The Art of Emotion
by DeviouseDevil
Summary: High School, AU. SasoriXDeidara. The Akatsuki's interest is peaked by the new blond in school, who wants nothing to do with them. They give the task of luring him in to Sasori. But what happens when Deidara forces his way into all of their hearts?
1. Emotions?

**Alright, I have had this slight interest in Sasori x Deidara for a while, but there weren't that many stories about them, and very few with correct grammar, spelling, etc. So here it is! I started this a year ago, but I'm just now putting a chapter out to see how ado...**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. This is Yaoi, deal. I've got enough stress in my life without flames from homophobes. If you have a critique, that you would like to tell me POLITELY, I will be happy to receive it.**

**Beta: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Enjoy ;D ~DeviousDevil**

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><p>Deidara sat alone in the school's art room with both fists clenched. After a few moments, he glanced around to make sure no one else had shown up before unclenching them to reveal two tiny swan shaped pieces of origami. He always came to school twenty minutes earlier than everyone else when he needed to practice his origami. He didn't want anyone else to see.<p>

It wasn't his favorite art style, but it was relaxing for times when he needed to think, and that's exactly what he needed at the moment.

He was starting his third week at Konoha High School, but because he had arrived at a precarious time, they were just starting a new semester. He had successfully joined the Advanced Art Class, which involved students practicing their own personal style and keeping a portfolio to show their improvement though out the class. It was perfect for him. A free class for him to let loose his creative side, but there was one problem: he couldn't think of anything.

His favorite art revolved around making fires. He had been warned before he was accepted that his 'art style' would not be allowed at Konoha High.

Most of his art works revolved around lacing clay, paper, or other objects of his desire in chemical compounds that burned at different rates and in different colors. He could easily make a drawing that, when set on fire, illuminated its brilliance in a flickering flame. The colors were unlimited, the speed: optional. Fast and sparkly or slow and smooth, it was truly a work of art. Some of his works of art, his 'masterpieces' as he referred to them, used tiny compact balls of gun powder laced with his compounds which, when ignited, acted like a fire cracker or sparkler, creating even more amazing pieces of art.

He had tried other things, of course. He had created minor fireworks, snow sculptures, flower arrangement, and even cake decorating. However, flower arrangements took too much time to die and the wilting period wasn't pretty at all, and cake decorating wasn't all that great. He really liked fireworks and explosives... But he couldn't do any of those things in this school without getting kicked out, and he actually liked this school! It was the third school he'd been sent to in the past year, and after hearing that it had an art program, he intended to stay.

Now all he had to do was think of a style he could practice…

"Good morning, Deidara," a cheerful voice greeted him from the doorway of the classroom.

Without a second thought Deidara swept the origami swans into his lap and grabbed the pair of fingerless black gloves that sat on top of his messenger bag. Slipping the gloves into place, he turned to greet the teacher.

"Good morning, Haku-sensei," he responded in a friendly manner.

As Haku was putting his own bag behind his desk, Deidara realized his hair was still pulled back and quickly yanked out the hair tie so that his waist-length, blond hair cascaded around his face. Slowly, he redid his hair so that it was out of the way, but still hung across the left side of his face. He honestly didn't care if a teacher saw his left eye, but just to be safe, he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

"You're always here so early, Deidara-kun," Haku smiled warmly, his brown eyes shining with kindness. "What were you doing this morning?"

Deidara sighed at the question. "I was trying to think of my Advanced Art style."

"Hmmm." Haku made his way over to sit across from Deidara as he thought on the matter. His hands combed through his waist-length, brown hair which was pulled to the side and out of his face. "I think you should do something more… permanent," suggested Haku.

"How so, un?" inquired Deidara.

"Well, from what I've learned about you these past two weeks in the normal art class, you like things that are beautiful one instant and completely gone the next. Is that not so?" questioned Haku.

"Yes," agreed Deidara quickly, "Art is so much more beautiful when it is fleeting. If it lasts forever then it becomes old and boring," sighed Deidara. "If it is fleeting, then there is that one moment of beauty and passion that takes your breath away and when it is gone, it leaves a lasting impression that never changes, un."

Haku nodded in understanding as he listened to his student's view of art.

"That's exactly why I believe you should work on something more permanent. Strive to create something that you don't want to ever leave your sight. Make something you don't want to be fleeting." Explained Haku, "It will give you a chance to try new things and broaden your artistic horizons."

"Makes sense, un," replied Deidara after pondering Haku's words, "But I still don't know what exactly I want to do."

"That's fine," said Haku, "I'm not going to have anyone give me an official topic until Friday. So you have a week."

"Thanks, un," smiled Deidara, "Oh, and Haku-sensei?"

"Hai?"

"Here," Deidara pulled a hair tie off of his wrist and held it out towards his teacher. "You always try and push your hair out of the way during class so I thought I'd bring an extra one."

"Thank-you," smiled Haku. As he reached to take the hair tie his hand abruptly changed course and grabbed Deidara's wrist instead. "This is beautiful, where did you get it?"

Deidara looked at the bracelet that adorned his wrist; soda can tabs were woven together with intricately braided wire. "I made it while working," responded Deidara, "I work at a jewelry store and they let me use their solder gun. I made that hair tie too, un."

"Work?" frowned Haku, "Konoha High forbids its student from working, Deidara, did they not tell you? They don't want students to have excuses to not do homework."

"I know, un," responded Deidara, "However, I received special permission from the principle, Tsunade. I like working, and I promised if any of my grades dropped below an A, I'd quit."

Deidara did not mention that he had to work in order to pay for groceries as well as supplies for school and art. Being an orphan, the government paid for his tiny apartment and whatever was in his parent's trust fund paid for his tuition. Even if his parents hadn't specified in their will that the money was for school, he wouldn't have used it any other way. There wasn't much of it and he wasn't going to waste it.

"Well, I guess it's okay then," shrugged Haku; however, from his tone of voice they both knew that Haku was going to double check with Tsunade. "Either way, Deidara-kun, have you considered jewelry making as an art idea? I can borrow materials needed for soldering from the Technology teacher. Jewelry is often used to make promises and is meant to last. I think you could have fun making jewelry no one has ever seen before."

Deidara thought about what Haku said. He actually did enjoy making jewelry out of the weirdest things, and he wore it all the time too. He had never considered it an art form, but in a way it was…

"Thanks Haku-sensei." Deidara smiled, "I think I'll take you up on that idea."

"In that case," Haku quickly moved back to his desk and started shuffling through piles of paper until he found what he wanted, "Here, this is a supply list. Every student must make a list of supplies they'll need so I can order it for them." Haku handed Deidara the green form labeled 'supply list' with a smile.

While Deidara looked over the form, a loud crash sounded from the hall way. Both turned to look at the noise; however, both of them knew what –or who- it was. Haku quickly moved out of the danger zone and to his desk at the same time that one Uchiha Tobi hurtled through the door to the art room.

"Deidara-sempai!" before Deidara could brace himself like usual, Tobi and he were thrown to the ground with a crash.

"Tobi! For the last time, we are in the same grade; I am not your sempai! And you're seventeen for god's sake! Act like it!" Deidara growled from his position underneath the wriggling Tobi.

"But Gaara's picking on me again!" whined Tobi, "And besides, I call you sempai because I respect you! There's nothing wrong with it." Tobi crossed his arms and one could only assume he was pouting.

Deidara shoved Tobi off of him before grabbing the arm of the person he knew was automatically there and pulling himself up.

"What did you do? Un," questioned Deidara as he released Gaara's arm.

Gaara simply shrugged without answering and took the seat next to where Deidara had been sitting.

"What are you guys doing anyway? You don't have advanced art this semester," grumbled Deidara as he sat back in his rightful seat.

"Class doesn't start for five more minutes!" exclaimed Tobi, "We came to see you since we didn't see you over the long weekend!"

Deidara glanced at Gaara and knew that Gaara had probably only come to shut Tobi up; not that it was working.

Honestly, Deidara was surprised they were even his friends. Tobi became his friend almost as soon as he stepped on the school campus. He had been in charge of showing Deidara around. Deidara thought he was a little weird since he ran around with a mask on. The only physical traits about him that Deidara could see was spiky black hair an a blood red eye. But, to each his own, and besides, Deidara wasn't judgmental.

Gaara had inadvertently become his friend on his fifth day at school. Now that was the weirdest beginning to any friendship he could ever remember…

_Deidara sat in the very back seat of his Psychology class. It was only his fifth day, and he still wasn't all that sure of how things worked at Konoha High. He kept coming extra early so he could have some quiet time to himself before all the people showed up._

_He was in the middle of making an explosive origami insect. Not that he would use it at school. This was his last chance, and he actually liked this school! He was able to take art here! He was extremely focused in what he was doing since origami was a recent form of art that he had incorporated into his style. He had only started learning the basics two day before._

_As he was placing the head on the bug he felt a very odd sensation, like he was being stared at, so he looked up. He was surprised to find fiery, red hair and a piercing, teal glare not a foot in front of his desk._

_"Can I help you?" inquired Deidara; he didn't like the way this guy was staring at him. Not one bit._

_"Hm," Gaara remained emotionless and still, "My seat."_

_Deidara couldn't help but stare at the boy incredulously. He was making a fuss over a seat? Not that Deidara cared; however, he was not going to be pushed around. Just because he had decided to keep a low profile didn't mean he was going to be taken advantage of! "I don't see your name on it," stated Deidara calmly as he looked around to make sure he and Gaara were the only ones around. He, of course, would be the mature one and give the boy the desk, but not before having a little fun._

_"Move." Gaara didn't budge; however, his glare became slightly more pointed._

_"Fine," Deidara sighed mockingly with a smile, "It's not that big of a deal. Take it."_

_Deidara slid smoothly from the seat and moved to the other side of the room. As he glanced across the room, he smirked when he saw Gaara take his seat. He watched gleefully as Gaara pulled out the origami bug from the inside of the desk, but before Gaara could even question what it was-BOOM!_

_Gaara was sent flying out of his chair in shock as confetti rained down on top of him._

_Deidara couldn't help it; he laughed. However, in the middle of his laughing Gaara had regained his composure and was now moving across the room toward Deidara._

_Deidara stopped laughing when he sensed Gaara next to him and immediately went on his guard. He slowly slid one of his gloves off in case he had to use one of his specially stored, explosive master pieces._

_However, after a two minute stare down, Gaara merely held out his hand in a somewhat friendly gesture. "Subaku Gaara."_

_Deidara had been confused at first, but after a moment he shook his hand and replied, "Deidara." Deidara could tell Gaara was curious at the lack of a last name, but didn't elaborate. When he took Gaara's hand he took it in his left so that his bare right hand sat safely in his lap. Gaara raised an eyebrow at this, well, he would have if it didn't appear that they had been shaved off, but didn't say anything._

_After their three word conversation Gaara had taken the seat next to Deidara while Deidara inconspicuously slipped his glove back on his right hand. They did not speak a word for the rest of the day; however, in any class they had together Gaara sat next to him, as well as at lunch; however, Deidara was pretty sure Gaara regretted that decision as soon as Tobi joined them._

_It was the start of an unusual, but welcome friendship._

Deidara continued to watch as Tobi showed Gaara and him his newest toy. Tobi actually made all of his 'toys' by himself. Technology was to Tobi like art was to Deidara. They watched in vague interest as Tobi pointed a pen like device at one of Deidara's paper swans which had fallen to the floor during their daily tumble. Yes, daily.

With a slight twist, a beam of red shot from the tip to the head of the swan.

"Congrats Tobi," Deidara clapped cynically, "You created the ever common laser pen."

Gaara rolled his eyes, but was obviously thinking the same thing.

"No, no, no! Watch! I made the beam hotter. With a little adjustment… it should make it catch fire!" Tobi insisted as he twisted the device a little more.

A moment after Deidara took in Tobi's words his eyes widened. Tobi's inventions worked ninety percent of the time, and if this one worked- "TOBI, NO!"

Too late.

The head of the swan caught fire. Deidara's eyes widened even more as he leapt toward the figurine. Thinking quickly, he yanked off his left glove and slammed his hand down on top of the flaming bird. Deidara sighed as he felt the paper figurine become mushy and moist, successfully putting out the flame before it could reach the combustible center. That had been close. If that had gone off with Haku-sensei in the room he would have been doomed. His last chance would've gone down the tubes.

"Wow, Deidara-sempai, that was cool!" exclaimed Tobi, "But where'd the swan go?"

"Um…" Deidara hesitated for a moment. He couldn't tell them! He'd only known them for three weeks! "Uh… magic trick, un." Thinking quickly, he slipped his glove back on before reaching behind Tobi and pulling out the second swan. Of course, he had pulled this one from his pocket, but Tobi didn't need to know that.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tobi, "Do it again!"

"Uh, once is enough, besides, the bell is about to ring, you should go to class, un," Deidara insisted uneasily. He really didn't have time to deal with Tobi's antics this morning.

He glanced at Gaara for some help, but froze when he saw the glare Gaara was sending him. The message was obvious. _He may have fallen for your lie, but I didn't. I don't like it when you lie. We're friends aren't we?_ Okay, so maybe he imagined the mushy 'friends' part, since Gaara would never say something like that, but the message was still the same. Deidara sent a pleading look at Gaara, trying to convey without words that he was sorry, but it just wasn't something he could talk about.

After a moment Gaara simply nodded and stood up to leave. Tobi was still babbling, but he shut up when Gaara, who was actually about a head shorter than Tobi, grabbed him by the back of the neck and began dragging him from the room.

"Wait," called Deidara. Gaara stopped to glance back at him questioningly. "Tobi," said Deidara in a voice that one would use to admonish a child, "Give me that pen."

Tobi clutched the device to his chest like one would cling to a precious item. If Deidara knew what Tobi's face looked like he would've sworn there'd be a pout on his features.

"Now Tobi, un," said Deidara sternly.

After a quick jerk from Gaara, Tobi whimpered but held out the device none the less.

"Good boy, I'll give it back after school so you can take it home, but until then we don't need you starting any more fires," said Deidara. God forbid he set off a fire alarm.

Immediately Tobi's posture straightened as he shouted in a gleeful voice, "Tobi's a good boy!" Before either could react Tobi had raced out of the room in a frenzy of gleeful shouts.

"…Hm," Gaara stared stoically in the direction Tobi had run, "I swear he's bipolar."

Before Deidara could reply Gaara was gone as well. Deidara simply chuckled before returning to his seat.

After he sat down he spared a glance in Haku-sensei's direction, to make sure that he was busy with something, before slowly sliding off his left glove.

Holding his hand in his lap, so if Haku-sensei did glance his way he wouldn't see anything, he slowly allowed the slim crack that ran across his palm to open. Gradually, as if any sudden movement would reveal what he was doing, the crack opened until it was large enough to let a moist tongue poke out. Yes, a tongue. And wrapped in this tongue was the same swan that he had stopped from exploding.

While keeping an eye on his teacher he removed the ruined swan from the small mouth before taking the tongue between the fingers of his right hand so he could examine the burn marks. He would have to soak his hand in a healing salve when he got home.

For some temporary relief he pulled a water bottle out of his messenger back and allowed the cool water to run onto his hand and into the mouth.

As he was doing this the bell that signaled the beginning of classes rung, and he quickly put the bottle away and repositioned his glove.

He had to be careful here; it wasn't like his old schools where he could do what he wanted. Here he had to keep a low profile. He couldn't stand out. Sure, he was capable of making friends, but with the ability to make friends came the ability to make enemies. Not to mention most of his friends abandoned him after they found out about his… unusual eye. And it was ten times worse when someone found out about his hands! A fake eye was understandable for someone who had lost theirs –though his was stranger than normal- but mouths on his hands! It was downright freakish, even in his opinion, and he was born with them!

He had decided when he was accepted into the school that he would keep to himself and not cause any problems. If he lived a simple high school life, then nothing unusual could happen. Then he wouldn't have to worry about getting in trouble. Sure, Gaara and Tobi had somehow become his friends, but there had yet to be any consequences from that, so he was fine.

As he began to fill out his supply list, other art students filed into the room. To Deidara's pleasure, they all avoided his table and sat with people they were familiar with. He knew he'd have at least one tablemate, there weren't enough seats without using his table, but he was content with no one sitting next to him.

After everyone had appeared to have taken their seats Deidara looked around to make sure that everyone had comfortably taken a seat without sitting at his table. Surprisingly enough, no one was left. So maybe he'd get a table to himself after all.

He was beginning to feel happy when the door to the classroom opened again.

To Deidara's horror, in walked Akasuna Sasori; he couldn't help but groan in disappointment when he realized that this was the person he'd have to share a table with. At this rate his good student act wouldn't last. Sasori was one of five people in Konoha High that Deidara did not want to associate with.

Akasuna Sasori, Uchiha Itachi (Tobi's cousin), Hoshigaki Kisami, some guy called Pein, and Momichi Zabuza; these five made up a gang called Akatsuki. Akatsuki was feared by everyone because, no matter how rich someone at Konoha High was, the Akatsuki were richer, and they could ruin someone's life with one phone call. Deidara had heard that some guy named Kakuzu was actually removed from the school simply because he was close to being as rich as Akatsuki. They didn't like competition.

Now, these were the types of people Deidara liked to pick fights with, but he just couldn't take the risk this time. Especially not with the connections each of them had. His life could be ruined. They could get the government to stop giving him rent money!

Deidara had managed to avoid the group until now. Though he still saw them pick on other people, like this one guy, Hidan, but he never said anything to stop them like he usually would. To his own self disgust, he kept to himself.

Deidara clenched his fists as he watched Sasori set up on the opposite side of the table. At least he was as far away as possible. In an attempt to ignore Sasori's presence, he reabsorbed himself in creating his supply list. Maybe if they just ignored each other, he'd be fine.

Everyone else in the class seemed to be either starting already, or doing what he was doing.

Deidara rubbed his eyes as words started blurring on the page. He assumed it was from concentrating on his list so hard.

After about ten minutes of writing things down and scratching things out, he was interrupted by the very person he was ignoring.

"Hey."

Deidara stiffened in his seat before slowly looking up at Sasori.

Sasori raised his eyebrows at the tense, cornered-animal-like posture that the kid at his table was presenting, but ignored it. It wasn't unusual.

"Yes?" questioned Deidara hesitantly.

"Give me my carving knife," said Sasori plainly.

"Excuse me?" question Deidara bewildered.

"My carving knife, it rolled under your seat," explained Sasori with an irritated tone, "Give it to me."

Deidara raised an eyebrow before glancing under his seat, and, sure enough, there was a small carving knife. He spared a glance at the table in front of Sasori to find a chunk of wood that almost resembled a hand.

"Some time this millennium would be wonderful," remarked Sasori as he became more irritated.

Deidara frowned at his rude behavior, and before he could stop, he found himself saying, "You could say please, or you _could_ get it yourself, un."

Sasori looked momentarily confused at being spoken to in such a way, but he quickly erased the expression from his face and replaced it with an angry one.

"Stop wasting my patience and give me the damn knife," growled Sasori, "I hate to be kept waiting."

Deidara scowled even more so and decided that since he had already angered the boy that he should do so thoroughly.

"But of course," replied Deidara in a falsely sweet voice, "Whatever you want Sasori-_danna_." His last remark was laced with sarcasm as he reached down to grab the knife. He couldn't help but roll his eyes as well. He missed the rise of Sasori's eyebrows.

Reaching under his chair, he went to grab the knife, but was surprised when his fingers grabbed… nothing. He frowned and went to grab it again with the same result. What the hell? He could see the knife, it was right there. Yet whenever his reached for it his hand missed. How the hell did someone just miss picking something up?

"Are you mentally handicapped?" questioned Sasori in a demeaning voice as he stood up, walked around, and picked the knife up himself.

Deidara just sat there confused. Why couldn't he pick it up? Slowly, Deidara reached for the pencil he had been using to write his supply list, but when he went to touch it, again, he touched nothing. His brow furrowed. He could see his hand on top of the pencil, but at the same time the pencil wasn't there? After a moment of contemplation his eyes widened in horror,_ no, no, no, not now! It can't be, it just can't._ Thinking quickly he closed the eye that was hidden by his hair and almost as soon as he did the pencil disappeared and reappeared two inches to his left.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasori asked exasperatedly from his seat.

Deidara didn't answer; instead he ignored the angry redhead in favor of standing up. Everything appeared normal, but as soon as he opened his left eye his world went spiraling. The room tilted drastically. He hadn't even tried to move and he was already leaning sideways. He tried to reach out for the table, but he missed drastically and crashed to the floor.

Sasori, hearing the unusually loud crash, looked up. He rolled his eyes when he noticed his table partner sprawled across the floor; of course, he would get the clumsy partner. Hopefully the kid wasn't a painter; otherwise he'd worry about his own works of art getting splattered with paint.

Deidara reached blindly for the table edge to regain his footing; however, his hand hit nothing. He tried to focus his eyes, but what he saw only made him more frustrated. It appeared as if the table was right there, but when he reached for it his hand fazed right through it. Suddenly, everything on his left side went black. What the hell?

He was beginning to panic. Something was wrong, and it all came back to his eye. The doctor had warned him that his eye was experimental, but this was worse than he had expected. He couldn't see a thing. What was worse was his normal eye was being affected as well. His vision was blurring in and out. Almost like he needed glasses, but it came and went. He scrabbled across the floor until he finally touched what he assumed was their table and pulled himself up.

Sasori arched his eyebrow at the blond's strange behavior. He looked like he was having a panic attack. Sasori's brows furrowed when he noticed the other boy was stumbling around like a lunatic, but he could hardly bring himself to care.

Deidara struggled toward what he assumed was the door based on what he saw in his warped vision.

"Deidara? Is something wrong?" Haku-sensei's concerned voice caught Deidara's attention as he managed to clutch the door knob in a moment of somewhat normal vision.

"Uh, yah, I just-," Deidara stopped as he as his vision began to twist and twirl, "I- I feel like I'm going to be sick." With that said he rushed out of the room as fast as possible. It wasn't a complete lie, in his panic, he really felt like he was going to be sick. As he raced through the hallway he kept his left eye firmly closed, which seemed to help for the most part, but he was beginning to worry that his right eye was becoming internally damaged.

He had an idea, but he wasn't sure how it would turn out… in more ways than one. He had to find Tobi.

Deidara tried to remember which class Tobi had at that very moment, but was somewhat ashamed when he couldn't remember any of Tobi's classes. He took a moment to rest by a water fountain and use the edge like a crutch.

"What the fuck, you little bastards! What the hell did you do with my symbol of Jashin?"

Deidara glanced around for the source of foul language only to be met by what was becoming a somewhat familiar sight.

Hidan, a rather foul mouthed, oddly religious boy was one of many students who were often bullied by the Akatsuki. It probably didn't help that Hidan had the palest white hair you could imagine and always tried to bring the most horrendous weapons to school, only for them to be confiscated. At the moment, Hidan was yelling at none other than Hoshigaki Kisami and Uchiha Itachi.

Thinking quickly, Deidara moved like lightning to grab Hidan by the arm. He didn't care that he had just interrupted Kisami who had been talking. He honestly didn't give a shit, he'd deal with it later, all he knew was Tobi and Hidan were friends, and Hidan might know where Tobi's current class was.

"What the fuck! Can't you see I'm in the middle of some important shit?" yelled Hidan after he was almost tackled by Deidara.

"Where's Tobi?" demanded Deidara.

"What?" asked Hidan, confused.

"It's an emergency; do you know where Tobi is?" asked Deidara, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

"What do you need with my cousin?" inquired a deep, monotone voice that made Deidara freeze on the spot. He purposefully refused to turn around because he didn't want the Uchiha to get a good look at his face. Not that his hair wouldn't give him away, but hey, he could always dye it. He changed his grip on Hidan's arm to the front of his shirt to yank him closer. "Look," he hissed, "It's very important that I find Tobi, now. If you can take me to him I promise-," he lowered his voice and leaned closer to Hidan's ear, "Look, I'll pay you back, I'll even-" He hesitated before speaking even more quietly. "Trust me, with you current situation you _want _me to owe you. I can't say much now, but _please..._"

Hidan seemed to contemplate Deidara's words. Finally, he nodded, but before they could leave, a large hand grasped Deidara's shoulder.

"Hey, my friend asked you a question."

Deidara didn't even have to glance at the hand on his shoulder to know it was covered in a bluish-grey tattoo that resembled scales. Kisami had it all over his body, and honestly, in Deidara's opinion, it made him look like a freak, but Deidara would never say anything. He himself was a bit of a freak. Before anything could happen, Hidan grasped Kisami's hand and flung him back with surprising strength before wrapping a protective arm around Deidara's neck, protecting his face from view. "I'll deal with you bastards later," called Hidan as he forcibly pulled Deidara into a swift walk. "I got shit to do."

Deidara sighed in relief when they rounded a corner and Hidan let go of him.

"So, what's this huge emergency?" asked Hidan.

"I- I can't tell you, but hopefully Tobi can help me with it, un," Deidara said uncertainly.

Hidan glanced sideways at him but simply shrugged it off when it appeared that Deidara was going to say no more. In a matter of minutes Hidan stopped in front of a door that read, 'Advanced Computer Mechanics'.

"Thanks," sighed Deidara as he tried to calm himself down. He reached for the door knob and… missed. Deidara frown, but then realized at some point he'd opened his left eye out of habit and quickly closed it so his vision would correct itself. Hidan, seeing Deidara's momentary lapse, as well as what appeared to him to be a clumsy miss of the door knob, grabbed the handle himself and opened the door.

Everyone in the classroom when silent as they turned from what they were doing and looked toward the door; there wasn't a noticeable difference in sound because the only people in the class besides Tobi were two teenagers: Nara Shikamaru and Gaara. Deidara stepped up beside Hidan to see that it appeared the three of them were building a computer.

"Sempai!" came the yell which caused Deidara to brace himself before he was forced to the ground. "You came to visit me!" exclaimed Tobi excitedly.

"Uhh," hesitated Deidara, he needed an excuse to get Tobi out of class, but before he could speak, Hidan spoke for him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, Deidara and I were sent to bring Tobi to the office. One of their computers quit working and they need him to fix it," Hidan lied casually, removing his usually offensive language so as to not upset the teacher. The teacher spared them a glance before waving them off. He obviously didn't give a crap.

"Alright, one sec Dei-sempai," Tobi said as he climbed off Deidara, "Let me get my tool bag."

Deidara was half tempted to just drag the boy to the nearest bathroom where no one would see them, but he figured Tobi might need his tool bag to help him anyway.

Before Deidara could stand up from his latest tackle Hidan gripped him under his arms and dragged him to his feet for him.

"Thanks, and I'll keep my promise about the revenge tomorrow, un, as for your- whatever they took, I'll find it when we're done," Deidara mumbled quietly before Tobi returned and then proceeded to drag the smaller boy towards the nearest bathroom.

Hidan raised a pale white eyebrow before shrugging and running his hand back over his hair to make sure it hadn't been messed up in their rush.

"Sempai, the office is the other way!" stated Tobi confused.

"Shhh!" hissed Deidara he yanked Tobi into the nearest bathroom and bolting the door behind him. He never knew why school bathrooms had bolts on them, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. Walking around the room he checked all the stalls to make sure no one was in there before sighing in relief at the knowledge that they were alone.

"Deidara-sempai?" questioned Tobi.

Deidara glanced at the spot where Tobi stood with his little tool bag. He couldn't see his face because of the weird mask he wore, but he could tell the boy was confused.

"Look, Tobi, there is no broken computer," explained Deidara, "I- I need your help with something." Deidara was extremely hesitant with what he was about to do. He was taking a huge leap of faith with this, and if it back fired he would just have to suck it up and deal with it because he had no other place to go. Konoha High was the end of the line for him.

"What's wrong?"

Deidara stared somewhat surprised at the change in Tobi's voice. He had never heard him so serious, it was almost like he was a different person! "Well, it's… mechanical," began Deidara.

From the silent way Tobi seemed to stare at him, arms crossed, Deidara assumed he was waiting to see what was so important.

Hesitantly, Deidara reached up and began to pull back the curtain of hair which created a barrier between the world and one of his many oddities. Tobi's arms dropped to his side as he stepped forward, obviously curious. Deidara had never let him nor Gaara see his left eye. Tobi had tried once and Deidara had blown up at him. Taking a deep breath, Deidara opened his eye. Nothing changed, he still couldn't see anything out of his left periphery; however, the image of Tobi in front of him did jump a few inches to the left.

Almost as soon as his eye was open Tobi stepped forward and grabbed him quickly by the chin to pull him down to so that they were eye to eye. Tobi fingered the eye curiously, having absolutely no worries about poking Deidara in the eye. Deidara knew from years of looking in the mirror that his eye was quite conspicuous: chrome with a bit of blue coloring where his iris should have been as well as a black lens where his pupil should have been.

It was because it was so obviously mechanical that he hid it. People tended to freak out when they saw it; exclaiming things like he was taking pictures of them or something. Actually, he could, he could also zoom in on things and see through thin objects if he wanted; such as his hair or… clothing, but that was beside the point, he never invaded anyone's privacy.

When he'd had his eye operated on he hadn't want to lose his vision and had asked for an experimental surgery, knowing very well that it could back fire. It had been fine, and the doctor had called it a success. Of course, the eye just had to act up after he moved away from the town where said doctor lived.

"What's wrong with it?" inquired Tobi as he pulled back Deidara's eyelid for a better look.

"Um, I can't see anything out of it, and what I can see is shifting to the left, almost like I'm drunk," explained Deidara immediately. Tobi's tone of voice reminded him of a doctor, all business, and he couldn't help but respond without hesitation.

Tobi leaned back from his examination nodding before he reached into his tool kit to grab a slightly smaller kit from inside. He paused a moment to stare at it before angling his head to stare at Deidara. "This is my more… personal tool kit. Perfect for this type of thing really; I think I might be able to fix your eye. But seeing as I'm not familiar with the mechanics I'm going to have to proceed slowly," explained Tobi.

Deidara nodded hesitantly. So far, everything was going great, Tobi hadn't freaked on him at all, but then again, maybe he was just so enraptured by the advanced mechanics that was his eye. It was then that Deidara noticed Tobi had begun to unclip the strap that held his mask on. _What?_

With one last glance, Deidara assumed it was supposed to be an assuring glance, Tobi removed his mask completely and revealed his face to Deidara for the first time. Deidara was surprised, Tobi looked… absolutely normal. Hell, he could even be considered hot. He looked a lot like Itachi, but without the scar lines under his eyes, making him appear younger. That was when Deidara noticed his eyes… they were red. Well, he had always been able to see one of Tobi's eyes, but now that there was no mask in the way he could _really _see them.

"Tobi…" began Deidara hesitantly.

Tobi smiled at him as he pulled Deidara's face closer to look at his eye once more. "It's okay, sempai," smiled Tobi, signs of his child-like personality shining through, "I, out of anyone, know what it's like to have a biomechanical eye."

Tobi brought out a pair of thin tipped, oddly shaped prongs which seemed to grip the edges of Deidara's eye perfectly. Tobi spoke smoothly as he worked, probably trying to distract Deidara as he seemed to be unscrewing Deidara's eye from its socket, "My family has a rare, hereditary disease which causes blindness. If you look at Itachi, he also has red eyes, but everyone thinks they're contacts when they aren't."

Deidara had never paid attention to any members of the Akatsuki, seeing as he didn't want them to notice him. All he knew were things that stood out. Sasori had red-hair. Kisame had a full body tattoo that made him look like a shark; not to mention his teeth were filed into points. Pein had piercings, all over. Itachi had two scars running down his face under his eyes –which he now wondered if it had to do with his mechanical eyes. And last but not least: Zabuza, who wore bandages that covered the lower half of his face. Although, Deidara had heard a rumor that Zabuza also had his teeth surgically filed into points, but no one knew for sure.

"Itachi's father, my uncle, was one of the lucky ones; however, because my father received the disease, my uncle worked hard in biomechanics to create an eye that could actually see. Mine aren't quite as advanced as yours though. It appears that whichever doctor you had, has progressed from my uncle's original work." As Deidara listened, he closed his right eye as Tobi finished unscrewing his eye. He didn't necessarily want to see the unnatural wires that connected to the nerves behind his eye. He was surprised that this entire operation wasn't hurting at all!

"My uncle retired after he made his footprint in biomechanics. My eyes, which use the very basics of yours, are somewhat less intricate. Your eye has a camera implant, as well as what appears to be… infrared? My eyes are far from perfect. My vision is like that of someone who needs glasses, but because of the mechanics, glasses do nothing for me, but it's still better than being blind. The red you see is a special add on that my uncle made me per my request. It allows me to examine electronics very closely. Itachi's are red simply because my uncle thought they looked cool."

Deidara remained silent; seeing no reason to speak.

"Whoops," chuckled Tobi.

"What?" Deidara's right eye snapped open and he froze at the sight. He felt like he was going to be sick, there were tiny metal strands hanging from the chrome ball in Tobi's hand, and he didn't want to know what the socket looked like. He was glad he was facing away from the mirror.

"Don't worry, it's actually a very easy fix," explained Tobi, his voice sounding familiar to Deidara, but without his mask, it almost didn't seem to go with his face. It was freaking Deidara out. Almost as much as having his eye hanging outside of his head. "I think it was my fault though," frowned Tobi, "I think when I knocked you over, I knocked loose a central wire that was connected to you mechanical cornea. All I have to do is solder it back in place and you should be fine!" Tobi exclaimed the last part, his voice overenthusiastic, but his face was rather emotionless, except for a slight smile.

"It's creeping me out," said Deidara, speaking for the first time since they began.

Tobi glanced up from where he pulled out a tiny soldering gun and some solder. "It will be over in a minute."

"No! Your voice!" exclaimed Deidara, "I'll never be the same! It's- it's… unnatural. It doesn't match your face at all."

Tobi glanced up from his handiwork to look at Deidara with a raised eyebrow; showing Deidara an uncanny replica of Itachi in one of his rare moments of curiosity.

Suddenly, Deidara's left periphery vision returned. It was really weird too, it was like half his vision was upside down, and the other half was normal.

"All done!" exclaimed Tobi as he replaced his mask. Afterward he began to delicately place the wires back where they belonged before screwing Deidara's eye into place. Once he was finished he jumped up excitedly and began to place all his tools back in his bag. After he was all packed up he seemed to hesitate in whether or not he should leave. "… you know sempai, I'm happy you felt you were able to trust me with your secret, especially, since you didn't know about my eyes when you did. If you ever need help again you can ask me."

"Un," Deidara smiled nervously, he honestly didn't want to say he had been extremely afraid of showing Tobi.

"And, if you ever need someone to talk to about other things… like maybe why you wear fingerless gloves every day, then I'm here. I won't judge you."

Deidara froze; Tobi was a lot more observant than Deidara had ever given him credit for. Still unused to this side of Tobi, he merely nodded before standing up and testing his eye.

"Alright sempai!" Deidara was completely unprepared to be glomped by the previously serious Tobi. "See you at lunch!" Before Deidara could even say thanks, Tobi had unbolted the bathroom door and left.

Unsure how to proceed, Deidara slowly began walking back to art class. There was still twenty minutes left seeing as the classes were two hours long; at least he could finish his supply list. He also remembered that he had to help Hidan, and he figured he could start by helping him find whatever it was that he lost. He assumed it was the freaky necklace he wore daily with some figure tied to a cross. He knew for sure it wasn't a Christian cross. Deciding to keep an eye out while he walked, he went ahead and focused his left eye to the point that all the thin objects around him became transparent. The metal on the lockers was thin enough to see through and he went ahead and perused them as he walked.

When he made it back to art class he had seen nothing, and decided he would probably have to check the Akatsuki's outfits. The very thought sent shivers down his spine, if he wasn't careful, he might see something that he didn't want to see. Thought most of the time he couldn't see through two layers, so as long as none of them went commando, he should be safe. Once he reentered class, Haku was all over him.

"Are you feeling alright? Are you going home early?" he asked concerned.

"No," smiled Deidara, "I'm fine. The nurse gave me something for my stomach. I feel much better. Un."

The teacher appeared relieved, seeing as he nodded happily and returned to his desk.

Deidara began walking toward the table he was expected to share with Sasori; he wondered if Haku would consider assigning the other boy to another table… He stopped when he noticed a body had materialized on their table. It took him a moment to realize that this body was actually made of wood. He was carving something earlier, un.

Deidara honestly wasn't interested in Sasori's wood carving; especially, since it wasn't particularly appealing in the looks department, but as he came closer he noticed something very interesting attached to Sasori's book bag, which happened to be hanging on the back of his chair: Hidan's cross.

Smirking to himself, Deidara strode purposefully to stand behind Sasori, while at the same time slipping off one of his gloves. Oh, how he loved all the uses he found for his hands, he was an expert at creating origami and sculptures with them.

Some people could fold origami with their tongues and so could Deidara… the tongues in his hands anyway. It was a simple matter of standing behind Sasori with his hand resting on his book bag. When Sasori sent him a questioning glance he merely acted like he had been admiring Sasori's work over his shoulder. When Sasori glared at him he merely held his hands up in surrender and walked back to his side of the table, and started on his supply list.

When the bell rang he turned in his supply list before throwing one last victorious look in Sasori's direction. As he left the room he allowed the cross to slip from between the slit in his hand before slipping his glove back on. He held the cross victoriously as he wiped it off on his shirt.

What Sasori hadn't known was that while his hand had sat motionless on the back of his chair, near Hidan's precious necklace, the mouth in his hand had worked the clasp on Hidan's necklace loose and then sucked it up.

Deidara: 1 Akatsuki: 0

He couldn't help but chuckle as he pocketed the cross; now all he had to do was figure out part two of his little plan…


	2. Intrigue

**A/N~ Enjoy, thanks for the reviews. :D**

**Beta~ CantHelpThisSmile**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. **

**It's been a while, hope you all are happy to see this.**

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><p>Deidara contemplated what he should do all through Advanced PE. He didn't want to do anything major or that would draw a lot of attention. If he caused bodily damage then the Akatsuki would probably be out for blood. Maybe a little water bomb in their lockers? No harm would come to them other than being humiliated in front of whoever is around at the time.<p>

He was happy that Gaara was in his PE class, but the redhead merely feigned injury and sat out. What he was not happy about was the fact that Kisame and Zabuza were also in the class. It was murder; they played kickball and it had been Kisame, Zabuza, and some people named Zetsu, Kankuro, and two girls named Temari and Konan versus Deidara, and a few students in the grade below him, including: Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino. Deidara was actually in the same grade as the Akatsuki, but he hung out with Tobi's friends which were, for some reason, all in the grade below them. Go figure. Maybe that was why Tobi always called him sempai? Well, despite the game being called 'Kick Ball', it ended up being 'Hit Anyone on the Other Team, with the Ball'. Whenever they were in the outfield the ball was kicked straight at their faces, and when they were running, the other team didn't even bother throwing the ball even a _little _gently.

It didn't help that Deidara was not athletic whatsoever. Sure, he could run. Running was something he excelled at, thanks to his past, but it hardly comes in handy when you suck at everything else. Throwing, kicking, catching, the list of things he couldn't do was enormous.

By the time the game was over Deidara was sore and fuming. He wanted nothing more than a nice hot shower. However, once he and the rest of his team got out of the showers, they noticed something: their clothes were gone. Akatsuki had decided to have a little extra fun. Luckily, Gaara hadn't needed to take a shower, and he'd managed to hide Deidara's clothes for him. But the damage was done. Deidara's irritation quickly turned to fury. There was no way he was going to spare the Akatsuki now. He stomped off; plans of revenge running through his head.

"Here." Deidara stopped at the table where Hidan, Tobi, and Gaara were sitting down to eat and slipped the mutated, silver cross under Hidan's hand. Well, Hidan and Tobi were eating; Gaara was just sitting there starring at everything in the room. Normally, Deidara would sit with them, but it was necessary for him to sit as far away from the Akatsuki as possible today. The trap was set; he had done it between second and third block before anyone ate lunch.

"You found it!" exclaimed Hidan, "I can't believe you fucking found it! I usually have to buy a new-"

Deidara had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep him from drawing attention from the entire cafeteria. "Shhh!" he hissed, "They can't know I'm the one who found it or else they might figure it out that I'm the one who set up the incident that's about to happen in five minutes."

Hidan shut up almost immediately looking eager. Glancing around to make sure no one could hear he leaned closer to Deidara and whispered, "Is this that 'revenge' you were talking about?"

"Yes," Deidara smirked. "I was going to go easy on them, but I find myself needing to let off a little steam…"

"Revenge?" inquired Tobi. He looked at Deidara confused. He wasn't used to Deidara's devious side, only his silent, calm one.

"Those bastards- no offense Tobi, but your cousin _is _a bastard," Hidan started.

Tobi merely shrugged and gestured for Hidan to continue.

"Well, yesterday those bastards from Akatsuki stole my cross, _again,_" Hidan lifted the cross in his hand for emphasis, "And just when I was going to kick their mother-fucking asses from here to Suna, Deidara came running, saying it was a fuckin' emergency, and that he needed to find you. In exchange he promised to get some retribution for me without leaving any evidence as to who did it."

Tobi nodded, and if his quivering was anything to go by, he too was excited, "I love it when Itachi is surprised. Will Itachi be surprised? What's going to happen?"

Deidara smirked before glancing at Gaara. "Well, I think Gaara has a pretty good idea. Except it's going to be ten times stronger than what he experienced." Deidara chuckled evilly.

Gaara quirked a would-be-eyebrow before smirking in realization. "Hm."

"What is it?" whined Tobi before crossing his arms and making a _hmph_ sound to let everyone know that he was pouting. "Ah! Does it have anything to do with the colorful attraction on their table? I thought I recognized the art style."

"What attraction?" Hidan, oblivious to the obvious chaos Deidara's antics had caused, turned to look at the item sitting on the Akatsuki's table. "What the fuck?" grumbled Hidan, "Doesn't look like revenge to me…"

Deidara just rolled his eyes. "You'll see, just stay here and enjoy the show, I have to be farther away, and if teachers ask… I ate my lunch in the library." With that Deidara walked off towards the other end of the cafeteria where the library doors sat closed, to prevent sound from disturbing those inside. This was going to be his alibi so to speak. There was absolutely no way he could do something if he wasn't in the room, right? There were, however, windows that lined the wall connecting the library and cafeteria; giving him a good view of his target.

He sat quietly next to one of these windows with a book so it wasn't obvious as to what he was up to and watched patiently, waiting for the chance to strike.

The cafeteria was a mass of round plastic tables. Deidara suspected that they were originally patio tables because they had holes in the middle of them where an umbrella might have gone. The Akatsuki's table was situated in a far corner opposite where Deidara was positioned. His friends sat in a corner slightly closer to him, near the door.

Earlier, Deidara had snuck into the cafeteria when it was empty to place a bouquet of origami flowers in the middle of the Akatsuki's table. It just so happened that when the cafeteria was closed, the school didn't bother turning the cameras on, and Deidara had snuck in through the kitchen so that it couldn't be traced back to him through hallway cameras. The bouquet itself was a work of art, one he had completed beforehand, but had found convenient for his revenge. All he had to do was slip it out of the art class, as well as modify it a little bit. The best part was that the bouquet had been a self-assigned project so it wasn't even registered by the teacher.

He had purposefully placed the bouquet in the center of the table so that the slightly metallic looking fuse hung out of sight under the table. Well, _Deidara _could see it, but only because of his eye and because he knew where to look. He knew for a fact that the bouquet had caused a spectacle in the cafeteria.

Everyone knew the Akatsuki were good looking, albeit in their own ways. However, it was blatantly known that every member, with the exception of Pein, was gay. Of course there were other gay guys in the school, but none dared to approach Akatsuki, for a very specific reason: if rejected, not only would they be embarrassed, but everyone would know they were gay! A lot of people were tempted to go look at who it was from, but no one dared to go within ten feet of the table, let alone the bouquet.

Deidara smirked; he had counted on their fear and confusion overriding their curiosity, especially because if someone moved it, it could ruin his setup.

Just then, the slight chatter that Deidara could hear through the thick glass window died down completely, leaving an eerie silence. Akatsuki had entered the room.

He knew that some people had to be whispering, but he couldn't hear them through the glass. Smirking, Deidara pulled out the small device from his pocket that was going to be key in his little plan. It was a good thing he never gave Tobi his laser pen back. He had tested Tobi's laser through a window earlier. Thankfully, the glass actually amplified the beam, causing a quicker flame than before; he had also made a mental note to _not _tell Tobi that. For now he placed the laser carefully on the table and turned to watch his prey.

* * *

><p>The Akatsuki were immediately aware of all the eyes staring at them. Pein, who had been in front, paused to analyze the unusual stares that assaulted them.<p>

"Does anyone else feel… awkward?" asked Kisame; making the Uchiha scoff.

Sasori was the first to move forward, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea as the rest followed. "I believe I found the source of this… commotion," stated Sasori as he stopped to point at the odd array of paper flowers in the middle of their table. "It would seem one of us has a secret admirer."

"Really?" Kisame was the first to step forward and reach for the card. The rest followed slowly and took their seats as Kisame struggled with the ribbon keeping the card shut.

"Who's it from?" asked Itachi, somewhat curiously. None of them had ever considered dating anyone, mainly because everyone was afraid of them. Perhaps whoever left the flowers would be a source of amusement?

Kisame finally managed to open the card; however, he frowned at what he read.

"What is it?" asked Sasori, already getting impatient.

"It, doesn't say who it's from," explained Kisame. The crowd around them seemed to deflate at the prospect of not knowing who had the guts to leave a member of the Akatsuki a bouquet.

Itachi was also annoyed, "Does it say who it's for?" So much for his entertainment.

"Nope," responded Kisame frowning, "There's just a poem, and… it's not very… how would you say, romantic?"

Pein held out his hand silently to receive the paper and read it. What he read had him frowning. Before he could say anything, however, the slight smell of something burning reached their noses and they all watched in surprise as the tallest flower on the bouquet began to burn slowly, blue sparks jumped from the paper while the flame glowed red. Soon the other flowers caught fire as well, and everyone in the room watch mystified as a rainbow of colors danced perfectly about the table. Once the flowers had burnt out it was the vase's turn. Soon there was a mound of green sparks and flames erupting in the middle of their table and then, just as it was dying… _boom!_

All the Akatsuki were knocked backward, more from shock than any actual pressure from the blast. Glitter rained down on their heads. The entire student body stood in shock. No one knew what to do. Hell, no one knew what had just happened.

Sasori, being the first one to recover, picked up the card that had come with the flowers and read aloud.

_Roses are red;_

_Violets are blue;_

_Let rightful vengeance_

_Always reign true._

_So now without another second to spare;_

_Allow me to introduce: _

_your worst nightmare._

Students everywhere were looking at one other as if to figure out who had been so bold as to attack the Akatsuki.

Pein was the first one to recover beside Sasori and he stood, calmly. "Who," he began, "Who did this?" he demanded. His quiet voice slipped across the cafeteria through the silence. "Step forward."

Itachi rolled his eyes, "I highly doubt anyone would come forward with that approach. They're not stupid."

Sasori turned to look at the staring crowd and glared, "What are you looking at? Beat it before we beat you."

Almost immediately, the entire cafeteria turned away from the group and began babbling. Sasori rarely spoke to anyone, in or out of Akatsuki, so when he took the liberty to voice his opinion, they listend without hesitation.

The Akatsuki remained silent, however, they approached the table cautiously. One never knew if there was another surprise. Zabuza was the first one to take his seat as he examined the mound of ash in the middle of the table.

"Are all of you all right?"

They all turned to see a very concerned looking Umino Iruka, who was the teacher on cafeteria duty at the moment.

"I called up to the office to tell them what happened, should I call the nurse as well?" he inquired.

"That's alright, Umino-sensei, no harm was done," replied Pein smoothly.

"Well, if you're sure-"

The man was cut off as the school speaker system crackled to life.

"_Iwa Deidara, please report to the office. Iwa Deidara, please report to the office… immediately."_

All the students stood confused when the library door opened noisily and the blonde strode calmly from the library, books in hand.

The Akatsuki watched as the blonde walked from one door to the other, ignoring all the stares and whispers. It was strange, seeing as students were called to the office all the time, but now everyone seemed to be noticing every little thing, almost as if they might miss out on something interesting. After the blonde had disappeared, however, the cafeteria seemed to sag in disappointment as everyone returned to their conversations.

Sasori turned back to the table, as did everyone else. The teacher seemed as if he wanted to say something more, but Pein just waved him off.

"Gun powder," Zabuza was the first one to speak. His hand was sifting through the ashes, pulling out little bits of plastic, which he appeared to be smelling. "There was gun powder inside of it."

"Well, does it really matter what _made _it explode?" questioned Kisame, "I wanna know _who _caused it!" He smiled excitedly. "Whoever did it had guts," he chuckled.

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Pein, "Whoever did it deserves to be recognized."

"_Recognized_?" growled Sasori. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Yes," stated Pein, "We'll give them a chance to join us."

Everyone at the table seemed to freeze at this.

"You really want someone else to join Akatsuki?" Sasori scowled, he knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"Yes, if they want," replied Pein, "I won't force them, though. Although, if they don't join us, then we will definitely have fun crushing them."

"That's hardly a choice," stated Zabuza.

Pein shrugged, "It's still a choice."

"Yeah, 'cause someone would really turn down the chance to join us," laughed Kisame, rolling his eyes.

"You never know," mused Itachi, drumming his fingers on the table thoughtfully, "They clearly don't like us."

"True," agreed Pein, "Which is why, on the off chance they don't want to join us, we must crush them. We can't make it look like we've gone soft."

"Sounds entertaining either way," Itachi smirked at this thought.

"We'll have to figure out who it is," Pein added.

"Hn… we'd have to get a new Akatsuki symbol," conceded the Uchiha. Itachi liked this idea. A new member would bring some much needed change, and on the .01% chance they declined the offer, they would have a new toy to torture.

"But I like our cloaks," argued Kisame.

"If we get a new member we won't have a cloak for them," pointed out Zabuza.

"Yes, the store we bought them at closed down," agreed Pein, "perhaps something a little less juvenile?"

"Henna tattoos?" suggested Itachi.

"… real tattoos," amended Zabuza.

"I don't have room for anymore tattoos," stated Kisame as he held up both hands and motioned towards his face.

"You all are actually considered letting someone else join Akatsuki?" demanded Sasori.

"Anyone willing to stand up to us deserves a shot," argued Pein.

"Tsk, whoever it was, was too cowardly to actually say who they were," pointed out Sasori.

"Which is why if they don't reveal themselves, we must flush them out. If that ends up being the case, we can always give them a test," compromised Pein, "But in the meantime, keep your eyes open for new Akatsuki symbol ideas. I'm beginning to get tired of these cloaks anyway."

"Okay," grinned Kisame.

"Hn,"

Zabuza nodded.

"Tch, whatever," Sasori agreed reluctantly. He didn't get along with very many people, and he definitely didn't want any additional people bugging him.

* * *

><p>Deidara waited patiently for the principal to see him. He had expected to be blamed, but he hadn't expected it so quickly. Oh well, he already had this all planned out.<p>

"Okay, brat, get in here!" the principal Sannin Tsunade opened her door roughly before ushering Deidara inside impatiently. She was rather intimidating despite how young she looked. You would think her blonde and hair and slightly oversized… _ahem_, chest, would make students disrespect her, but Deidara found himself slightly afraid. She seemed like the type of person to jump to conclusions.

Deidara stood calmly, refusing to act guilty in anyway, and walked smoothly into her office.

"May, I ask why I am here?" inquired Deidara. He kept his voice casual, but didn't add any overly innocent tone. That usually made you appear guiltier.

Tsunade sat in her chair and stared at him crossly. "Don't patronize me, you and I both know perfectly well, _why _you are here," she grumbled as she took a drink of some unknown substance.

"I'm afraid I am not as aware as you are," responded Deidara kindly.

"Oh, so the little explosion in the cafeteria not ten minutes ago had nothing to do with you, is that correct?" she asked with a somewhat sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.

"I assure you I have no clue what you are talking about," responded Deidara coolly. "I was in the library when you called me down, as I have been for the entire lunch period."

At this the lady placed her chin in her hands as she stared at Deidara. They continued to stare at each other until finally, Tsunade smiled. Deidara blinked in shock, he wasn't sure whether he should be worried or not.

"You're quite right," she chuckled, "You did well at hiding your tracks. I have absolutely no evidence other than your past record at blowing things up."

"I-" Deidara began to deny it, but Tsunade waved him silent.

"Look, honestly," sighed the woman, "I don't give a flying fuck whether you were the one who caused the little explosion earlier. The Akatsuki, and yes, I am very familiar with how they address themselves to the rest of the student body, can take care of themselves. They're big boys, and I'm sure they deserved whatever surprise you gave them."

Deidara was once more silenced before he could speak.

"So, despite you having nothing to do with this little incident, I would just like to say, I do _not _want any school property damaged, nor do I want students hurt. Otherwise I'm completely fine with sitting back and enjoying the show."

Deidara stared in shock at the woman as she leaned back against her chair and smirked at him.

"I'm well aware that you are on a zero-tolerance policy based on your past records, and that if you so much as bring anything explosive to school that you will be expelled; however, as you said, I have no evidence against you. You're free to go." With a small smile she shooed him out of her office with a wave of her hand.

Deidara left in a daze. Had that really just happened? Had the principal really just given him the go ahead to torture the Akatsuki? He was so confused! He had gone in there prepared to defend himself to his fullest! After all, he had been threatened and berated before he entered this school! Granted, it wasn't the principal who had threatened him, it was the board of directors, but still!

Deidara stopped at the front desk to get a pass seeing as lunch had ended while he and the principal had been talking. He was still pondering the meaning of Tsunade's little speech. Could this mean he didn't hav e to hold back? As long as he didn't injure someone or destroy property, of course. But that was easy! Deidara always used special chemicals to make 'safety fire', basically a fire that doesn't burn and it was easy to avoid property damage. Deidara's mind was jumping with excitement at the prospect of starting new pieces of art! He'd just have to be careful to leave no evidence! Granted,this meant he could no longer work on origami in school without drawing attention to himself, but that was fine! He needed to work on his Advanced Art assignment anyway. His hands were quivering in anticipation.

"Um, Iwa-san?"

Deidara glanced down at the lady who occupied the front desk. She was rather sweet, quite the opposite of the principal, but Deidara had heard she could be ten times worse. She had short black hair and a kind smile, but Deidara wasn't one to judge a book by its cover, or by rumors, so he kept his opinion about her open minded.

"Yes, Shizune-san?" inquired Deidara.

"You have free period right now, correct? Do you have a particular classroom to go to, or are you in the library?" inquired Shizune.

"Haku-sensei's class, un," informed Deidara, "He has a planning period now, and he said I could spend my free class with him."

"Alright then," smiled Shizune before handing him his pass, "here you go."

"Thank-you," Deidara gave a slight bow before leaving the office. He stopped by his locker to retrieve a few things that he had in his book bag to start making jewelry. It would be a few days before his personal art supplies would be delivered.

He was happy that he had a free period. He could do whatever he wanted, and because he had already finished the entire required high school curriculum, he had all electives this semester. Honestly, he saw free period as like an extra art class, since that was all he planned on doing while he sat there. Once he retrieved his art bag and dropped his books in his locker, he made his way toward Haku's class.

When he reached the door he noticed that Haku wasn't at his desk and assumed he was running an errand; however, he stopped in his tracks when he saw who _was_ there; Sasori. But not just Sasori; Itachi and Kisame were there as well. They appeared to be leaving for their own classes, but had yet to finish talking to Sasori.

Could his day get any worse? The exact three people he had _just_ ticked off, had to be waiting for him now, of all times? He was supposed to be the only person sharing Haku's room for free period! Well, he wasn't going to run like a chicken. Taking the time to relax and put on an air of calmness, he waltzed into the room as he would've any other day. Instead of taking the table furthest from Sasori and giving of a display of avoidance he took one that wasn't very far at all, but made sure that there was still one table between them.

"Why don't you sit in the library like normal students during a free period?" asked Kisame.

"Art is fun… plus, if I go to the library, I have to worry about you ruining something," responded Sasori tartly.

"He has a point," stated Itachi.

The three of them didn't appear to notice him until he was setting his stuff down. However, as soon as the metals in his bag clinked on the table, three sets of eyes all rotated toward him.

"Good afternoon, un," offered Deidara before he began focusing on spreading out his materials. There was a tense silence about them which made him look up to meet their curious stares. "What?"

"What are you doing here, brat?" asked Sasori with a frown. The whole reason for coming to the Art room during Free Period was so he could work without distractions.

"Tch!" Deidara scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Forgive me Sasori-_danna_, I did not know I was disturbing you." Deidara sent him a mock bow before straightening up and scowling. He cursed himself mentally for drawing more attention to himself, but he just couldn't help it. In hopes of somewhat pacifying them and avoiding trouble, he decided to answer Sasori's question. "For your information I asked Haku-sensei's permission to have my free period in here," Deidara shrugged.

Kisame began to snicker at this.

"Just shut up and leave already," scowled Sasori.

"No thank you, un!" Deidara flopped into his seat exaggeratedly, just to piss the man off; which of course made Kisame's snicker become a full blown cackle.

Itachi, however, continued to stare at Deidara curiously before beginning to approach him.

Deidara glanced up at the sound of approaching feet, only to turn back to his work rapidly after seeing who was approaching him. _Shit!_

"Were you able to find my cousin alright?" asked Itachi casually.

Deidara's movements in sorting through his materials paused before starting back up smoothly, "I did, thank you," he replied in a clipped tone, praying the other boy would go away before he did something to anger any of them.

"Oh yeah! It's you!" exclaimed Kisame loudly enough to make the rest of them flinch. "What was the big emergency?"

Deidara glanced up somewhat apprehensively, looking at all of them; both Itachi and Kisame looked to be waiting expectantly for an answer while Sasori just looked irritated. He decided the easiest way to avoid the question was to ignore it and went back to his sorting.

"Pff, whatever, be a little goth, freak," grumbled Kisame when they received no answer. "Hey Sasori! What happened to that ugly cross?

Deidara automatically tensed at the word freak, but no one seemed to notice as far as he could tell.

"What cross?" Sasori asked mechanically, his mind already absorbed in whatever he was making.

"The one I attached to your book bag!" explained Kisame, "It belonged that creepy-ass, mother-fucker, you know? The freak with the white hair."

Deidara scowled at Kisame's continuous use of the 'f word'. He gripped a piece of wire tightly, forcing himself to remain silent. He had already drawn their attention way too much. He needed to lay low for a little while so they didn't single him out as a target for their personal entertainment. It would also be bad if they started suspecting him, and whether they suspected him of being involved in the cafeteria incident or not, they could still ruin his life just for talking back.

His silence seemed to pay off as all three of them began to ignore him all together.

"Come one Kisame, let's leave Sasori and his new… _friend _in peace. Sorry for bothering you, Sasori, I'll have to keep him on a tighter leash the next time," soothed Itachi as he led Kisame out of the room. Kisame whined indignantly but allowed himself to be pulled from the room.

"Hm," Sasori merely grunted, holding absolutely no sympathy for the tattooed boy. "Don't bother coming back here, ever."

"Oh, so cold," Itachi mock-whined as he closed the door behind him.

There were a few minutes of relaxed silence in which Deidara sighed and allowed the tension in his shoulders to leave. He honestly wanted to scream bloody murder –not to defend Hidan- he had felt the need to defend himself indirectly. He hated the word 'freak'; it brought back too many memories, and he hadn't liked being reminded of his past.

"Hey, brat," called Sasori.

Deidara glanced up questioningly. Had he done something to draw the redhead's attention? Or perhaps Sasori hadn't been ignoring him earlier.

Sasori starred at him for a minute before his gaze slipped past Deidara to something behind him. "Give me that piece of sand paper."

Deidara frowned; it truly amazed him how this boy turned all of his requests into demands. "Why don't you get it yourself?" asked Deidara as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"You're closer," said Sasori simply with a shrug; though Sasori was unsure why he was actually bothering to give the blonde a reason. Normally, people just did his bidding.

Deidara glanced over his shoulder at the sand paper which was sitting on one of the counters, next to one of the sinks and then back to Sasori. Sasori just stared at him expectantly. Deidara held his ground for a few moments before sighing, and pushing himself out of his chair. It wasn't worth the effort. However, just because he was giving in did not mean he had to be happy about it. "Of _course,_" grumbled Deidara sarcastically, "Whatever pleases you, _oh-great_-Sasori-sama." He continued his little rant as he took all of two steps to grab the paper, and then turned to give it to the redhead. "Will that be all, Sasori-_danna?_" Deidara questioned in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Sasori looked from the sand paper to the blonde amused. The blonde's attitude, although annoying, was at the same time entertaining. "Actually..." he mused.

Deidara crossed his arms and looked at Sasori expectantly.

"The 'oh-great' bit was a bit over the top. I'm perfectly fine as being referred to as 'danna' but if you would like to address me so highly, 'sama' also works," informed Sasori in a very serious voice.

Deidara stared at him in confusion until he saw the slight glimmer of amusement in his warm-brown eyes. _Oh hell, did he just make a joke? _After starring in shock for a moment, Deidara was knocked out of his daze by Sasori's soft chuckle before he went back to work on whatever it was he was making. Deidara had yet to figure that out.

Deidara quickly recovered his composure and frowned before returning to his own table while grumbling, "Tsk! Egotistical bastard."

The only effect his words had on the other boy were to make him chuckle once more before they both fell into a comfortable silence in which they worked on their separate projects.

However, the blonde couldn't stop examining the other boy all through class –or Free Period- he seemed so different from the rest of the Akatsuki, actually, so did Itachi, now that he thought about it, but it was the redhead who captured his attention.

He was somewhat annoying and rude- yes, definitely rude- but at the same time he had just seen a side of him that didn't live up to his cold appearance at all. Deidara had never seen anything other than annoyance in those cold brown eyes- granted, he had never really looked before- but here the boy had been joking with him, albeit a bit egotistically.

Sasori was having similar thoughts, but without looking up or losing focus from his work. The blonde was amusing, despite the nickname he'd been given. He tried to recall anything that he might know about the blonde, but nothing stood out. It was as if that very morning had been the first time he'd ever seen him. Honestly, he didn't even know his name. He vaguely remembered the blonde being called to the office during lunch, but he couldn't remember the name that had been spoken. While he contemplated this he etched carefully at what was to be the eye of his latest puppet. He was advancing his abilities by actually carving more humanistic details into his works of art. The eyes were the hardest because he was carving _into _the wood, which was already thin because it was a hollow puppet.

Deidara eventually let his mind focus completely on the task at hand. In his hand he held pure silver wire which he had wrapped very carefully into the shape of a ring. He had wrapped each layer of wire so tightly that you could barely tell it wasn't solid silver. The top was thicker because he had wrapped it around a very shiny amethyst with a light purple tinge. The stone he had made over a few days previous during work when business was slow. He had taken a scrap of pure amethyst that his boss gave him and polished it for hours until it was smooth and shiny. The hard part had been the symbol he had engraved in it. It had taken thirty-two tiny bits of onyx. It took him days with a chisel and blow torch and eye glass to embed every last piece into a shape that perfectly matched the Japanese kanji for 'sphere'.

He didn't know why he spent all that time on one little stone, but he had obsessed over it until it was done. Now, that he looked at it he frowned. It was perfect, in every way, and it disturbed him that he would never wear it. It was true he had never looked at jewelry as art work, and had therefore kept a lot of things he had made, but this piece just didn't seem like him. It was perfect, and he was extremely pleased with himself, but he could just never see himself wearing it. He fondled the ring as he marveled at his artwork; engraved on the underside of the stone was his personal symbol: a bird. He would definitely find a purpose for such a masterpiece.

"Fuck!"

Deidara jumped in fright at the abrupt noise, dropping the ring on the table. He turned to see Sasori glaring at his table and clutching his carving knife as if he was going to stab something. "What's wrong, un?"

Sasori growled before sending whatever he had been working crashing to the ground in a fit of rage.

"Wha-," Deidara bolted out of his seat and across the space that separated them to grab Sasori's wrist before he actually stabbed something. "Stop!"

"_So _close!" growled Sasori. His free hand clawed at the table while the one Deidara held clenched tightly, as if he was going to rip his arm away, but Deidara kept a firm hold.

Seeing that he wasn't likely to calm down soon, Deidara pried the knife from his hand and set it safely on the table. "Alright, calm down," Deidara slowly released the boy's wrist.

Sasori's hand immediately went to pull at his hair in aggravation.

After he was sure that Sasori had no intention of going for the knife, Deidara bent down to retrieve what had been thrown so roughly from the table. His eyebrows rose curiously when he noted that the wooden carving was an _extremely, _realistic human head. If it were painted and had a body, he might mistake it as a human being.

Deidara held the carving safely in his arms as he re-approached Sasori's table. "Here," said Deidara gently, "it doesn't appear to have suffered any damage." Deidara held the carving toward the aggravated redhead, but the boy merely scowled before turning away from his piece of work.

"It's a failure," snarled Sasori, "Just trash it."

Deidara stared at the boy in shock. "What about this piece of art is a 'failure'?" he exclaimed.

Sasori glanced at him with a frown, "The eyes."

Frowning, Deidara shifted the head until he could get a good look at the eyes. He had to look extremely close to see the tiny hole that was in the same spot the pupil should have been. "You're kidding right?" Deidara glanced between Sasori and the head, "I mean, I wouldn't have even _noticed _if you hadn't told me!"

"It doesn't matter if others notice!" growled Sasori as he stood up and attempted to knock the head out of Deidara's arms. "_I _will know it's there!"

Deidara gripped the head to prevent any further attempts at destroying it.

Sasori growled before turning away and kicking his chair.

Deidara placed the head down gently before walking up to Sasori and hugging him from behind, both in an attempt to comfort and to make sure the boy didn't knock anything else over. "It's alright Sasori-danna," cooed Deidara, "I bet you can fix it. I can help if you like." Deidara noted in the back of his mind that he was shorter the Sasori, but he supposed the reason the boy looked so short was because he never actually stood next to him. That, and compared to Itachi and Kisame, the boy was a midget.

Sasori stiffened at the surprise bodily contact, but was too preoccupied by the warmth enveloping him to push away. After a moment of silence and… hugging, he decided to break the silence, "Why did you call me 'danna' that time?"

"What?" Deidara lifted his head from where his cheek had been resting on Sasori's shoulder so he could look at his face.

"You called me Sasori-_danna, _why? You usually only call me that when I ask you to do something," explained Sasori before smirking, "Is there something else you're imagining when you call me that?"

"What?" Deidara pulled away as if he had been burned. "Why you little- ugh! You don't 'ask' me to do things! You demand! And I don't know, habit maybe!" Deidara huffed before turning to go back to his table and grumbling to himself.

Sasori frowned when Deidara and couldn't help but notice that the blonde was either dense, or he was completely ignoring the sexual innuendo in his second comment; most likely the former. The boy was blonde after all.

Deidara stomped back over to his table while trying to rid himself of the slightly, perverted comment that Sasori had made appear in his mind.

"Wait."

Deidara hesitated only slightly before glancing over his shoulder to see Sasori standing there, holding the wooden head.

"Un?"

"You said you'd help me," Sasori looked at him expectantly.

Deidara sighed, but turned back to Sasori nonetheless. "Here, un." He pulled two equal-sized onyx stones from his pocket and held them out. "Cut out the entire pupil in each eye and then put these in them. Or, if you have no intention of painting it I can give you wooden ones."

Sasori took the stones and looked at them critically before holding them up to the eyes of his creation. After a moment or two of studying them he smirked, and headed back to his table.

"You could at least thank me," huffed Deidara with his hands on his hips before turning to go back to his table.

However, before he reached it, he paused as a warm breath ghosted across his neck and traveled to his ear.

"Thank you." The unusual sensation made him shiver, but before he could even comprehend what had happened, it was gone.

Sasori smirked; no way was the blonde dense enough to ignore _that. _He was beginning to see how the boy could be entertaining.

Deidara remained frozen while Sasori walked passed him toward his table and picked up the newly finished ring. "You make jewelry?"

"Un." Deidara moved to stand next to him, somewhat worried about the safety of his latest artwork, however, Sasori held it gently as he turned it around and examined it from several angles. Deidara watched the way he examined it and couldn't help but notice the ring looked nice with the boy's somewhat pale complexion. It was then that he realized how he could make his art work. He could make it for _other _people. He would still make his own jewelry like before, but he could easily avoid calling it artwork; especially, when he made it out of soda tabs.

He glanced at the boy once more, biting his lip while making a decision; finally, he released a sigh, "Keep it, un."

Sasori's head jerked up to stare at him, and Deidara was stunned at the amount of surprise that filled the boy's usually stoic face. Almost immediately, however, the redhead's face became suspicious. "Why?" he questioned.

"Because," began Deidara, "Haku-sensei thinks I need to work on art that will be everlasting, but whether I can make it or not, I just can't keep it. It goes against my 'art is fleeting' nature. I've only ever worn my own creations because I've never looked at it as 'art' before. The point of me making art that lasts is that it actually 'lasts'. If I keep it, it will never see the light of day."

Sasori raised an eyebrow at this explanation, "… 'Art is fleeting'?" he questioned.

Deidara hesitated before answering; he didn't want to mention his explosive artwork for fear of revealing himself. "You know, like… um, ice sculptures! Or… something made out of food that will disappear as people eat it. Oh! And flower arranging! Although, it takes forever for it to disappear, but it is still fleeting. Or things like the auroras; although, that's like a natural piece of art."

"That's stupid, art is always everlasting," disagreed Sasori.

"No, it isn't, un!" Deidara insisted, "If you look at the Mona Lisa, I don't see anything special about it. It's absolutely boring! But if you see something amazing, _just once_, and for only a few seconds, then that image of beauty becomes engraved in your mind, un." Deidara crossed his arms and huffed stubbornly, as if to say he wouldn't argue on the subject any longer.

Sasori sighed exasperatedly before glancing at the ring in his hand, "I can really keep it?" He didn't know why, but the ring called to him. It was amazingly beautiful but simple at the same time. Exactly how he liked things.

Deidara noticed the way the boy stared at the ring, like a child on Christmas, and smiled. "Un, but you have to take care of it."

Sasori nodded silently and slid the ring onto his left thumb.

Deidara watched as Sasori turned away without so much as a thank you, but he found he didn't really mind. Somehow, seeing those normally cold eyes with a hint of warmth made him feel really happy. He loved making others happy and, from the look on Sasori's face, he knew the boy would take good care of the ring.


	3. Guilt

**A/N**

**Ok, so I just read that we can have story covers! How awesome! Still don't know how to do it yet... and I'm not too awesome at drawing. Sooo, if anyone likes this story enough and wants to make one for me, that'd be awesome! I don't really know what I could give you in return... this story was originally a one-shot prize, and it took me over a year to publish the first chapter. So I'm definitely not offering that again, but anyway, enough of my bullshit.**

**Beta: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just like to fantasize about relationships between the male characters and write them down; because guys are not the only ones who are allowed to imagine hot sexual images between members of the opposite sex. ; D**

**Enjoy ~ :D**

* * *

><p>The club was deserted, as it always was during the day. All the chairs and stools were stacked on top of tables along the walls. The speakers hung mutely from the ceilings while the colored spotlights remained off. Behind the bar the neon light that read 'Red Dawn' was turned off. The only sign that anyone was there, was the fact that a door near the back was ajar, and talking could be heard.<p>

"Alright," Pein sighed as he lowered himself onto the couch, a very comfortable couch. As one of the co-owners of the club, he had –as well as the rest of the Akatsuki- made sure that their private room was decked out with the highest quality furniture and booze. They had bought and created 'Red Dawn' for their own personal entertainment, and the back room gave them both privacy and comfort when it was actually open to the public.

Zabuza sat on the opposite end of the couch as Pein, while Itachi took a recliner near Zabuza's end of the couch. Kisame sat in a round, beanbag-like chair across from the couch, which was filled with water and fake fish. Sasori took a seat in a chair similar to Itachi's, but it didn't recline, which was situated near Pein's end of the couch. However, a side table separated his chair and the couch. He liked his space. They all had their own spot and they liked it that way.

"So, what's up?" asked Pein after everyone was situated.

"Nothing," responded Zabuza.

"Yeah, I'm seriously getting bored," whined Kisame, "My cousin Suigetsu says that Sound is being relatively calm."

Itachi merely 'hmed' in agreement; he wasn't one to whine, but he too was becoming bored with life. It was sad, really; they were the four richest teens in Konoha, but they couldn't find something to entertain themselves.

"Any ideas on who bombed our table?" asked Pein with a hint of hope.

This seemed to make everyone sit slightly taller, but when none of them spoke they all slumped in their seats.

"None," said Zabuza.

"Hey, what about that religious kid?" asked Kisame.

"He _is_ the only one who we've been messing with lately," agreed Pein.

"No," Itachi shot down the idea almost instantly, "He's too stupid, and he would take pride in such an act. The person who did it, does not wish to be discovered."

Sasori remained silent; he didn't really care about either topic. He was content with just working on his artwork, and he really didn't want anyone to join Akatsuki anyway. His attention was partially drawn to the ring on his right thumb. He couldn't stop fiddling with it, probably because he wasn't used to wearing it yet.

"A friend of his?" suggested Zabuza.

"Tobi is his only friend that I know of, and there was nothing mechanical about that explosion," droned Itachi. "That, and I doubt he has an evil bone in his body. The most I've ever seen him do is sneak up on people and yell 'boo'. "

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's that other kid's name? The one who sits with Tobi? Gaara?" inquired Kisame.

"Hmmm, I don't believe I'm too familiar with him," mused Pein while resting his chin on the tops of his hands. "Isn't he your cousin, Sasori?"

Sasori looked up in response to his name, but remained silent seeing as he hadn't heard the question. When everyone just stared at him, he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Isn't Gaara your cousin?" Zabuza kindly repeated the question for him, "Could he be the one who blew up our table."

Sasori shrugged before turning his gaze back to his ring. "I doubt it, "he answered after a moment, "Gaara isn't very social, and if he does make friends, he usually doesn't care enough to do anything."

When no one spoke after him, he looked up. Seeing that all eyes were still on him, he added, "Beside, if it were Tobi or Gaara, they would hardly need to hide themselves. They have just as much money and power as Itachi and I, being from the same family and all. And of course, as I previously stated, they have the family factor."

Still no one spoke, and it was in that silence that Sasori noticed they weren't just staring at him, but his hands. He had been fiddling with the ring subconsciously while he spoke.

"What's that you're messing with?" asked Pein curiously. Normally, Sasori just sat still doing nothing, or he'd work on carving something. However, he appeared to be enraptured in something else altogether.

"Hm? You mean this?" Sasori lifted his hand so that the ring became more visible.

Pein reached across the little table that separated them to grab Sasori's wrist and pull it closer for inspection.

Sasori glared instantly, he hated to be touched. It had to do with the fact that he could barely register the sensation of touching; being touched only reminded him of that. However, Pein ignored him as he twisted his arm this way and that; not at all worried about hurting him.

"Intriguing, very unique," concluded Pein after his examination. "Is it really woven together, or is it just carved to look like that?" he inquired. He pulled Sasori forward to the edge of his seat so that he could pass his arm off to Itachi so the others could see it.

Sasori narrowed his eyes but gave into the pulling.

"I don't know," shrugged Sasori. "I would assume woven. I don't think the artist had the ability to heat it to the point of carving into it."

"Artist?" asked Itachi.

"Yeah, the brat in my Advanced Art class. He chose jewelry as his objective, and he gave it to me. Something about him never being able to wear it because 'art is fleeting'," scoffed Sasori. "Idiot, everyone knows art is everlasting; otherwise, what's the point?" grumbled Sasori.

Itachi raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "It wouldn't happen to be _this_ 'brat' would it?" Itachi grabbed his book bag from where it sat by his chair and pulled out a file. He tossed the file on the coffee table which sat in the middle of them before opening it to reveal a picture of a blonde adolescent in which only one, blue eye was visible.

Sasori nodded, pulling his hand back to his side now that everyone was done starring at it.

Pein leaned forward curiously, wanting to see who exactly had made Sasori's ring. He was unable to recall ever seeing the boy in the picture before.

"Why do you have a file on him?" asked Kisame.

"Who is he?" asked Zabuza.

Itachi flipped open the folder, but his eyes quickly narrowed in suspicion.

"What's wrong?" asked Kisame.

"There's only one page…" mumbled Itachi, who quickly checked his bag to make sure none had fallen out. "My source never fails…" Itachi stared down at the paper. But, it seems that all the information fits on one page…" So he began to read aloud, "Iwa Deidara, age 17, expelled from two schools previous to KHS in the past year. Reasons are not listed. However, it almost appears as if someone went back and deleted that information," frowned Itachi before he continued, "Parents died three years ago in a car crash. He lives off of government funds, but he works part time at a small jewelry store located on Shinobi Street. Moved to Konoha from Suna because it was the next closest town where he could go to school without moving too far.

"Lives in a two room apartment on the corners of Chunin Avenue and Kage Boulevard, which includes a bathroom and one large room that I assume is divided into a bedroom and kitchen." Itachi passed the sheet to Pein so he could read it himself. "There isn't much before his parent's death, and the blank spot where it should list why he was expelled is rather cryptic. It also doesn't say which schools he came from; however, I believe there are only two high schools in Suna."

"That's true," informed Sasori.

"There's nothing else?" inquired Pein.

"No, but I have his medical records," Itachi shuffled through the papers again before handing a new one to Pein.

"Your resources never cease to amaze me," praised Pein.

Itachi scoffed, "That was the easy part, after all, my family owns every major hospital on this side of Japan. My source for school records at least has to hack the system."

Pein passed the previous page around for the others to see before beginning to read aloud from the boy's medical records. "Iwa Deidara, born in Iwagakure on May 5th." Pein paused in his reading as he looked at something interesting. "Hm, it says here he was born with an unknown birth defect which stumped all his doctors. However, it doesn't say what it is. It almost looks like it was removed, just like the information about his past schools."

Itachi's eyes narrowed upon hearing this as he frowned. He didn't like having partial information. It meant he had been unable to attain something he wanted, and an Uchiha _always_ gets what he wants.

Pein shrugged it off before continuing, "His hospital records were transferred to Suna Hospital when he was ten years old. Hmmm, let's see… admitted to the hospital for severe burns starting at the age of eleven all the way until he was fourteen, with the number of visits steadily declining in number. The causes of the burns are not listed. Also at the age of fourteen he was admitted to the hospital because of a car crash."

"The one that killed his parents?" asked Zabuza.

"Most likely," said Sasori while he looked at other parts of Deidara's file. "The sheet from before said he's 17 and his parents died three years ago, that would make him 14."

Pein nodded in agreement before continuing, "Injuries included: the bones in his left arm were shattered and had to be replaced with synthetic bone. It took five separate surgeries and a total of 36 hours to remove all the bone fragments. His right arm was nearly severed at the shoulder, but was fixed up before amputation became mandatory."

At the mention of amputation, everyone in the room stilled, and no one could help but glance at Sasori who sent each of them a glare, which if possible, would have killed them on sight. "Continue."

No one argued.

"Glass became imbedded in his left eye which they had to remove. It says he was transferred to a specialist in false and biomechanical body parts, but doesn't go into further detail," concluded Pein. "It says he made a full recovery and other than coming in for regular exams and physical therapy every three months, he hasn't had any medical problems."

Sasori glowered at the mention of the boy's eye. _Sure, _everyone stares at him at the mention of amputation which _didn't _occur, but at the mention of the boy losing his eye, no one so much as looked at Itachi.

"Hey, doesn't he let his hair hang in front of his left eye?" asked Kisame curiously.

"I'm honestly surprised you can remember that as well as relate it to what we just read," mused Itachi.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot!" argued Kisame.

Sasori scoffed and rolled his eyes at the childish comeback.

Zabuza grinned; his pointed teeth making it look feral. He took his bandages off when it was just the five of them.

Pein just ignored the comment as it was a part of an everyday argument between Kisame and Itachi.

"Was there anything else?" asked Pein.

"Only records of his parent's bank accounts which have been conjoined and used to pay for his schooling," concluded Itachi as he reorganized the file.

"Why are we reading this again?" asked Sasori with a sigh.

Itachi smirked at this, "Because we are all getting bored, and I thought he might make a nice new source for entertainment."

"What about that Jashin-freak?" asked Zabuza.

"We can't really get rid of him," shrugged Itachi, "He _is _friends with my cousin. If we tried, Tobi would just find a way to counteract it. And if we did it secretly, he'd annoy the hell out of me for days, and I don't feel like putting up with that."

"Eh, who cares about that loser?" shrugged Kisame, "He's getting boring anyway. All he does his cuss us out, and all we ever do is hide his cross and push him around. It's getting old."

"That's why I thought the new kid would be a nice change," stated Itachi, "It appears to me that he knows we're feared, but he doesn't understand why. It also seems like he's got some spirit which could use some crushing. If we plan it out and don't simply go after him like we've done with all the others in the past_,_ it could last a few months. Maybe even until the end of the school year." Itachi waited as the others pondered his words. Pein was the first to speak.

"Hn, do you think it's possible to get him to make us rings to match Sasori's? I think it could make a good replacement for our cloaks," Pein pondered.

"It _is_ cool," added Kisame as he glanced at Sasori's ring.

"Wouldn't that be a little hard if he's our next target?" asked Zabuza, "After all, if we're making his life miserable, I don't think he'd _want _to make us a new Akatsuki symbol."

"Not necessarily," shrugged Itachi, "Like I said, if we plan it out right, it could last until the end of the school year. He doesn't have to know we plan on using him in the beginning. We could feign friendship to begin with and use that to get him to make us the rings, and _then _begin the rest of our plan."

"Which is?" asked Kisame.

"I don't know yet. It'll depend on his response to the first part of the plan, explained Itachi.

"Sounds interesting," nodded Pein, "A new Akatsuki symbol as well as something to liven up the school year. How do you propose we approach him?" Pein inquired.

Sasori frowned as he listened to Pein and Itachi talk. He didn't particularly like this plan. Not that he cared about the boy. What he didn't like was Pein using his ring as a model for Akatsuki's new symbol. He liked it because it was unique. He was actually hoping Deidara would refuse them, but no one had ever escaped a plan developed by the Akatsuki, and Sasori doubted Deidara would be any different.

* * *

><p>Deidara sat behind the desk at his part-time job. It was almost 8:00, which meant: closing time. He just had to finish changing the battery in one last watch, a job his boss decided to give to him during slow hours. It was a pain in the ass, but after he was positive his boss was upstairs in the live-in portion of the shop, he could easily slip off his gloves and use his extra appendages to help. Rather unbelievable, especially since tongues, lips, and teeth aren't known for being strong and precise, but he guessed it had something to do with the muscles in his hands. Once the gloves came off, he could easily change the battery in nine watches in less than five minutes; a record, even for a master jeweler.<p>

The shop was owned by a woman named Kurenai. Her husband had died the previous year, leaving her with a newborn son. She had happily employed Deidara when he saw her help wanted sign. She needed someone to run the shop whenever she had to run upstairs to take care of her child. Not that the shop was very busy in itself. It was rather small actually, with only two long, glass cases on either side of the room displaying jewelry. The main desk where Deidara always sat to man the shop was strategically placed in the center on the back wall with the door to the back room behind it. She tried to keep Deidara busy, but he still found time to focus on his artwork, regardless. And now, he could work on jewelry while asking Kurenai for suggestions.

She had been ecstatic at the news and even offered to display a few pieces in the shops window, if they were good enough.

After finishing changing the battery in the last watch, Deidara pulled out his latest creation: a necklace. So far all he had was part of black rope, made from fine cotton threads to make it soft. He was weaving it by hand to make it more of his own creation. So far he'd woven two inches worth. It was hard work; after all, there were probably over 50 threads that he had to weave evenly. He didn't know what he was going to do with it when he was finished, but it was going to be cool. He was probably going to have much more artwork by the end of the school year than anyone else, seeing as he kept making pieces outside of school, but once he starts something he can never stop.

A jingling sound alerted him to presence of a customer.

He frowned; it was two minutes until 8:00. Who could possible walk into a jewelry store at that hour? Looking up, he had to grip the counter to keep a surprised gasp from coming out of his mouth. _Itachi._

He was very tempted to go upstairs and find Kurenai so that she could deal with him, but he knew how tired she had been today. The other boy looked around before his eyes landed on Deidara.

Deidara tensed immediately, preparing for anything that the Uchiha could possibly throw at him; however, as the boy came closer he felt himself relax. It wasn't Itachi, the boy was a head shorter than Itachi, and his hair was styled differently. His bangs were straightened while the back was spiked up. It actually reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite place it. He was younger too; actually, he looked more like Tobi if he thought about it. Tobi didn't have scars under his eyes like Itachi, nor did the boy in front of him.

The boy stopped in front of the counter, his coal black eyes piercing Deidara's very soul. Deidara couldn't help but stare back. It was uncanny how much Uchiha's looked alike, and if this boy wasn't an Uchiha, then Deidara wasn't an artist. It was a little strange though that the boy's eyes were black while Tobi's and Itachi's were red. Although, he now knew that was because their eyes had been mechanically modified, but didn't all Uchiha's get the disease? Tobi said it was hereditary.

"I was told you could help me," said the boy after a moment, realizing that the blonde wasn't going to do anything but stare.

His words made Deidara start slightly, but he quickly smiled. "We were actually about to close, but I suppose I could help you… um?"

"Sasuke," replied the boy, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Deidara nodded, his suspicions confirmed. "Well, what can I help you with, Sasuke? Un."

"My friend, Nara Shikamaru, told me that you would be able to help me. He said you were an artist and would have a good eye for something like this." Sasuke stood stiffly, looking around the room. From his body language Deidara could tell he didn't go into jewelry stores very often.

"How did Shikamaru-san know-," but Deidara stopped. If it was the boy in Tobi's class, then it was likely Tobi had told him where he worked. Sasuke shrugged in answer despite Deidara stopping the question midway.

"I have to find an anniversary present for my… partner," stated the boy, looking even more uneasy.

Deidara's smile never faltered, "Could you tell me what he looks like?"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in shock before returning to normal. He looked the blonde over carefully before pulling a picture of his _boy_friend out of his pocket and handing it to the other boy. He waited to see if perhaps the blonde had misunderstood the situation and accidentally said 'he' instead of 'she', but upon viewing the picture the blonde never hesitated.

Deidara scanned the picture; it was obvious who the boy's 'partner' was. The blonde haired boy was hanging from Sasuke's shoulder in the picture smiling. He looked very energetic. Deidara placed the picture on the counter before grabbing a key from the register and walking towards one of the jewelry displays. "Any price range? Un," questioned Deidara as he began unlocking one of the cabinets. Looking up he saw the other boy scoff and roll his eyes.

"No."

Deidara smiled, he didn't think so, but it was part of the job to ask. Rapidly and professionally, he pulled out a cloth and began to set out everything that was turquoise or topaz that would match the blonde's eyes. He avoided anything that looked too girly or earrings until he had placed what he considered to be all the possible options on the counter. However, despite the variety, he couldn't help but think the energetic; blonde from the picture wouldn't look good in any of them.

Sasuke seemed to think the same since he was frowning while looking at all the pieces.

Deidara tried to think what would match the boy when he himself was not familiar with the boy's personality. He appeared rather simple, to put it nicely, unlike the black haired boy in front of him. Thinking back to all the pieces they had at their disposal he remembered something. "One sec, un."

Sasuke looked up questioningly, but the blonde was already gone so he simply shrugged before leaning against the counter and looking at the jewelry with lost hope.

Deidara moved to the back room where his book bag sat. He had made it long before he started considering his jewelry art, and so he often carried it with him to wear. However, it had never quite been a perfect fit for him. When he thought about it, the blonde in the picture had hair and eyes similar to his own, but with slight shade differences. He was sure it would look perfect on the boy. Finding what he was looking for he walked out from behind the counter toward the Uchiha. Once he was close enough he held out what he had retrieved, "Here, un."

He watched as Sasuke stared at the necklace curiously, but at the same time with a look of absolute contentment. "It's perfect," he said.

Deidara smiled happily. The necklace was very simple. A black, nylon rope with blue sea-glass suspended from it, accented with two mother-of-pearl chips on either side.

"How much?" asked Sasuke.

"Nothing, un," smiled Deidara. "It's not even part of our collection. I made it myself, so it doesn't even have a price. Just take it; it's a bunch of fake stuff anyway."

Sasuke looked at the boy carefully. "You're sure? I could pay you for it."

"It's not worth anything, the gem is false, and the stones aren't worth ten dollars," insisted Deidara.

Sasuke just stared at him, before looking at the necklace with a conflicted look on his face.

Upon analyzing the Uchiha, Deidara realized the boy's pride wouldn't let him take the necklace for nothing and sighed. "Look, un, if you really want to give me something then let's just say you owe me a favor, 'kay?"

Sasuke hesitated a moment before nodding and placing the necklace contently in his pocket. He turned to leave, but faltered slightly. "How will you contact me if such a time arises?" he inquired.

"I'll ask Tobi for your number, I'm assuming you're related?" It was a hypothetical question, but Sasuke nodded anyway.

"Cousin," supplied the dark-haired boy.

"How are you related to Itachi?" inquired Deidara.

He noticed Sasuke stiffen slightly, but he kept all signs of emotion of his face with practiced ease.

"Brother," answered the boy after a moment.

Without another word the boy strode from the shop with his prize in his pocket.

Deidara frowned, but shrugged it off while grumbling. "Arrogant, egotistical bastards." _With the exception of Tobi of course._ Deidara walked silently to the door the other boy had just left from before flipping the 'open' sign to 'closed' and locking the door. "That ought to do it," he mumbled to himself, wearily. Putting away all the jewelry he had taken out, he relocked the cabinet before going into the back room to retrieve his back pack. After returning all the things he had thrown out when looking for the necklace, he hoisted the bag onto his shoulder before leaving through the back door and locking it as well.

It was a quiet walk to his apartment. Thankfully, though, it wasn't far from the shop, only about a mile. It was surprising, though, how quickly the nice neighborhood with the jewelry store turned into the slums. Thankfully he lived on the edge that bordered the middle class. There was less crime here; still crime, but less of it. His apartment was located, ironically, above an alcohol store. You would think this would be more dangerous, but honestly, the only people who went in a specialized shop for alcohol, simply wanted good alcohol. Whereas all the drunks were on the other side of town, getting smashed in bars. The guy who owned the store leased the apartment to him for almost nothing since it always smelled like alcohol, and it wasn't really made for living in. This gave him a little extra money left over from government checks which went towards food.

There were only two rooms, but there was a bathroom, and that was all Deidara needed to work with. He had brought his sofa-bed from his old apartment, and he already owned a mini-fridge since he hadn't been able to afford a big fridge at his old place. The first bit of extra money he had gotten from the government went towards a hot plate, normally used for camping, and a microwave from Goodwill. He was set. He had a ways of making food, sleeping, and relieving himself. Granted, the bathroom didn't have a shower, but that was why he always took one after gym at school. He also took advantage of the fact that Home Economics was his third period this semester –only because they said he already took too many art classes- and snuck clothes in the laundry room along with table cloths. It saved him a trip and the money for the Laundromat.

Once he arrived at his door step, he realized he had left his key inside his apartment. Rolling his eyes at his carelessness he reached for the handle before jerking upward and pushing in. The door swung open magically. He really needed a bolt. All the lock did was give the _illusion_ that his apartment was fortified.

He dumped his book bag on the floor before closing the door. Walking toward his 'kitchen', he grabbed a chair that he kept in the corner and jammed it under the door handle. He felt safer during the night since he knew his door didn't lock properly. It was the only purpose for the chair really, seeing as he didn't have a table. He sat on the floor to eat, along with everything else. He didn't have counters since the room was made for storage so everything else rested on the floor.

His sofa-bed was pushed into the far back corner, permanently pulled out into a bed. It wasn't the comfiest thing in the world, but it was a step up from 8when he was sleeping on the floor two years ago.

Going into the bathroom, he took the bowl and cup from his breakfast out of the sink and placed them on top of the toilet so he could wash his face and brush his teeth. He took off his gloves as well so he could let some cold water run into the hand he had burnt earlier that day. After doing so he quickly washed the cup and bowl before carrying them to the kitchen and placing them on top of the mini fridge with his other cup, a plate, and a set of silverware. He never had company, so he saved money and only purchased enough for himself.

Yawning, he trudged toward the couch and collapsed on it, making the springs creak in protest. It wasn't long before his mind slipped into unconsciousness.

The next morning Deidara woke up at 5:00 so he could eat, get ready, and still have time to walk to school. Seeing as class started at 7:00 –an ungodly hour if you ask him- and it took him an hour to walk there, he usually arrived at 6:45. The school was almost three miles away, which was annoying, but doable.

He was a little late this morning, but he still got there before 7:00, barely.

Sighing, he took his seat. He had to force himself to not take off his gloves and play with the papers from the scrap box located conveniently next to his table. He couldn't let anyone associate him with origami; especially not when he was planning to prank the Akatsuki some more. That thought alone brought a smile to his face; however, he promised himself to only do it when they mess with someone, otherwise he might overdo it. Also, he was a little worried that they might blame Konan. She was the one who taught him origami when he first started at KHS. She came t school three days in a row, each day with a different paper flower. He had finally just asked and she had been more than happy to teach. She was in his Advanced Art class, and origami was her chosen project.

"Hey, brat,"

Deidara glanced up automatically, seeing as the person speaking was right next to him. He frowned when he saw who it was, but looked questioningly at the other boy all the same. Why was Sasori here before class started? As far as he knew, he was the only one who sat in here until the bell rung.

"Here," said Sasori gruffly before shoving something at his chest.

Deidara automatically clutched at the object, but looked at Sasori inquiringly as he watched the redhead sit in the seat in front of him.

"It's in exchange for the ring." It didn't look like the boy was going to explain anymore so Deidara simply voted to examine the object that he was absently holding against his chest.

It was a bird! It looked familiar…

"I noticed the symbol engraved on the inside of my ring," Sasori seemed to answer his silent question.

That was why it was familiar! It was similar to his artist signature, a bird! And its wings moved up and down if he played with it! It was a miniature puppet! Deidara smiled slightly at this, "Thanks, un, but you didn't have to give me something in exchange."

Sasori just glared at him before pulling out the same head he had been carving the day before.

Deidara sighed exasperatedly, but he kept the bird. He could tell this was a similar situation to the previous night. Like Sasuke, Sasori had too much pride to just take the ring. Granted, Sasori's ring had _real _gems and metal, but Deidara wasn't going to tell _him_ that!

"Well, thank-_oof!" _Taken by surprise, Deidara was slammed into the ground harshly.

"Deidara-sempai!"

"_Tobi" _said Deidara, a bit too sweetly, "Must we do this _every _morning?

"Tobi's a good-boy!"

Deidara rolled his eyes, automatically going to rub his head when he realized that his head hadn't smacked into the floor for once. Tobi had wrapped his arms around his head and somewhat cushioned the fall. Probably because of the incident from the day before. Deidara smiled a bit at this, "Yes Tobi, good boy."

"Yay! Tobi's a good boy!" In a surge of excitement the boy jumped up and down, consequently knocking the wind out of Deidara.

Sasori glowered slightly at Tobi's yelling. He also found the way Tobi's hands had entwined with the blonde's hair annoyingly intimate, not that he cared. He simply didn't want to be the one to explain to Itachi that the blonde might be Tobi's boyfriend. _That _would definitely ruin Itachi's plans.

"Okay, _off!" _With a huff Deidara managed to push the ecstatic boy off his stomach, and like the day before, reached his hand out to grasp the arm that he knew was waiting to help him up. He was surprised when not only was his hand grasped, but his other arm was gripped firmly by the elbow, and he was pulled up by both arms. It was then he noticed that Sasori had stood up and had gone to help him at the same time that he reached for Gaara. Which, of course, resulted in a stare off between the two redheads.

"Hello, cousin," Sasori spoke, his face devoid of emotion.

Gaara simply narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but he nodded in return.

Deidara felt a little uneasy, standing between the two boys. It was almost like he wasn't even there. "Haha, okay, yeah," he said finally, attracting both of their attention and making him feel slightly more nervous. "Thanks guys, un."

Gaara nodded before grabbing Tobi by the back of the shirt and dragging him toward the door. "See you at lunch, Deidara-sempai!"

Deidara smiled and waved before realizing what the boy said and shouting after him, "Stop calling me that! We're in the same grade!" He huffed in annoyance when he realized Tobi was too far away to hear him. Returning to his seat, Deidara retrieved his fallen puppet before looping an extra hair tie around it so he could attach it to his book bag like a keychain. Once he was sure it wasn't going to fall off, he turned back to the table. It was then he noticed that students had begun filing into the room. _I guess class has started, un._

He quickly pulled out a sketch book from his bag. He almost went for the black rope he was making, but he didn't want to finish it without knowing what he was going to do with it. Turning to a new page, he became enraptured in all sorts of designs, and not just ones involving black thread. It was amazing; all the ideas he was coming up with. He was even designing a bejeweled hair piece for Haku, that way he wouldn't have to remember to bring a hair tie. He even thought of asking Tobi if he could design him a mask.

"Hey."

Deidara didn't mind sketching either. He was quite good at it as well, but he didn't consider it 'his' type of art. After all, there was nothing fleeting about it, but it was necessary. He used sketching to design his fleeting art pieces, as well! Then when he was done, he could use the paper for origami in make them vanish in an explosion of color! That had been a nice little extra he discovered after learning origami.

"Brat!"

Before Deidara realized what had happened, his sketch book had been taken, _and_ he'd been hit upside the head with it.

"What? Un!" snapped Deidara as he looked at an equally irritated Sasori.

"I _hate _being ignored. Almost as much as I hate being left waiting," growled Sasori.

"Well, forgive _me, _Sasori-_danna, _if my life doesn't revolve around you, un!" replied Deidara as he snatched his sketchbook back. "Now, what did you want?" Deidara asked as he flipped through his book to find his place.

Sasori frowned at being given only half the boy's attention, but decided to ignore it. "Meet me outside the cafeteria before lunch."

"What?" Deidara looked up perplexed.

Sasori smirked smugly when he noticed he had the blonde's full attention now. "I _said _meet me outside the cafeteria before lunch, brat."

"Why?" asked Deidara utterly confused before it quickly turned to anger, "And why do you do you call me that! We are in the same grade! We're probably the same age too!"

Sasori knew for a fact that he was older since he knew Deidara was 17, and he was 18, but he wasn't going to tell _him _that. That could lead to questions as to _how_ he knew that, so he simply shrugged. "Just meet me; I need to tell you something."

"And you can't do that here? Un," inquired Deidara with a raised eyebrow.

"It'll take too long," said Sasori simply, "and I don't like to talk while I'm working."

With that said, the redhead turned his full attention back to the head he'd been carving.

Deidara couldn't help but notice both pupils had been cut out and filled with the small onyx stones he had given the boy yesterday. He smiled to himself, knowing he'd been helpful in saving the artwork, whether it was fleeting or not, before turning back to his sketchbook.

* * *

><p>His day had been relatively normal, other than Sasori asking him to meet him, although, gym was a little… different. They were playing dodge ball, the worst game in history to play with Kisame and Zabuza, especially since they actually had an excuse to hit people. He had somehow ended up on Zabuza and Kisame's team instead of Kankuro's, which meant he was neither sore nor bruised in anyway. Though Zetsu, who was normally chosen for their team, seemed a little put out and had tried his best to injure Deidara. Fortunately, after the teacher got tired of Gaara 'stepping out of bounds', and getting out, he told him to 'get his ass off the court and sit on the bleachers'.<p>

After that, Gaara sat to the side and rolled the balls that had flown into the bleachers back into the game, and he made sure to roll them directly under Zetsu's feet whenever he was throwing. Sometimes, having your friend sit out every day had its perks.

Home Economics had been the only class where nothing changed, but even that had been a good class. He had managed to sneak three different outfits into the washing machine before class ended.

So now he was waiting by the cafeteria door for Sasori, wondering what he could _possibly _need to tell him. He was beginning to get irritated though. Didn't Sasori hate to be kept waiting? Then why the hell was he taking so freaking long!

"You waited."

Deidara nearly jumped out of his skin when the very boy he was waiting for came up behind him.

"God, don't _do _that," huffed Deidara. His face pulled into a pout as he crossed his arms and stomped his foot. "Now, what did you want?"

Sasori smirked at the childish display before responding. It was, dare he think, cute? "Follow me."

Deidara looked at him curiously before following behind the boy as he walked into the cafeteria. It took a moment to realize he was being led toward the Akatsuki table. He immediately became wary. Honestly, he would have bolted in the other direction, except that would only arouse suspicion. There was no way Akatsuki could have linked the bomb from the previous day to him so easily… right?

When they reached the table Sasori took a seat next to Itachi, but Deidara couldn't help but notice the seat to Sasori's right was conspicuously empty. Akatsuki had plenty of room to spread out, but they had purposefully sat close enough together to leave a spot open.

Deidara, however, remained standing, which caught Sasori's attention since he turned around to face him. "Sit."

"No, thank you," said Deidara stiffly while crossing his arms. "What did you want to tell me?" He couldn't help but glance over at his own lunch table in hopes that Tobi would come running over and get him out of this somehow. Unfortunately, it appeared that Hidan, Tobi, and Gaara had yet to notice his absence. Although by the looks of the gossiping crowd, it wouldn't be long before they heard he was over at the Akatsuki table.

"Please sit," it was Pein who spoke this time. His tone was rather pleasant, which surprised Deidara because he looked very… _un_pleasant? He wasn't sure how to describe it. The guy had piercings all over his face! Pein seemed to sense his unease and attempted to smile, but that only freaked Deidara out more. "I wanted to ask you something," continued Pein, oblivious to Deidara's discomfort.

"I don't have to sit down for you to ask me something," responded Deidara sharply. There was no _way _he was going to sit next to Zabuza. He was the scariest one out of all of them, and it didn't help that he appeared to be glaring at Deidara. Not that he could tell of course, what with all the bandages. Trying to pacify them before Zabuza decided to force him into the seat he added, "Beside, people are already talking. If I sit down there will be an uproar."

"Very well," conceded Pein when it became apparent the blonde had no intention of sitting with them. "Then I'll get straight to the point. I couldn't help but notice the ring Sasori was wearing yesterday and today, as well for that matter."

Deidara looked on inquiringly, becoming interested in where the conversation was going.

"I was wondering if you could perhaps make more? We have recently decided to ditch these cloaks of ours, and I thought that rings would make a great new Akatsuki symbol," explained Pein.

Deidara threw cursory looks at the black cloaks with red clouds decorating them. They were a _little _strange to wear; especially, when the five boys in front of him were extremely rich. It also appeared that the cloaks were getting old because a few had begun to fray around the edges.

"Do you think you would be able to do that?" inquired Pein, snapping Deidara out of his examination of their cloaks.

"No," said Deidara without hesitation. He couldn't help but notice that all eyes were now on the Akatsuki's table, which meant that word had spread he was over here. It would be a matter of seconds before Tobi showed up to help him, or so he hoped.

Pein seemed to frown at this, but quickly forced a smile. "Why not?" he asked causally, but Deidara could hear the slight strain.

"Because," huffed Deidara, "I made that ring as a piece of art, un! If I make replicas it wouldn't be unique anymore. Now if you'll excuse me-"

As he turned to leave his lower arm was caught in a firm grip, which brought him to an abrupt halt. Looking back, as a shiver of fear raced down his spine. Zabuza was holding his arm.

"Perhaps you could at least think about it?" asked Pein, acting as if Deidara wasn't being held against his will. "We can easily buy them from you, directly. I'm sure you make jewelry for that store you work at, right? You only get part of the profits then, correct?"

Deidara stiffened at this. How the hell did they know where he worked?

It was then that Tobi decided to make his entrance. "Dei-sempai! Come on! Hidan brought brownies! You're going to miss them!" Tobi spoke in a cheerful voice like always, but his body language was all wrong. He stood firmly next to Deidara, his eyes on Pein, and he tugged at Deidara's other arm as if that would dislodge him from Zabuza's grip.

Deidara was beyond coherent to Tobi's pleas. He felt threatened by Akatsuki, and he didn't like being threatened. Years of living in the bad side of town were beginning to kick in.

It was like a switch had been thrown.

He had worked hard to suppress his explosive personality, but there was a very thin veil between his sense of calm and sense of defense. And Pein had just torn it away with one little hint of knowledge. Because knowledge is power.

"Deidara-" Tobi's second attempt at pulling Deidara away was cut short when Deidara calmly pulled his arm from Tobi's grip and gently pushed the boy aside.

"Not now, Tobi." Deidara's eyes never left Pein's. With one quick, effortless twist he freed his wrist from Zabuza's grasp and slapped the other boy's hand away from him.

The entire cafeteria froze, and Akatsuki watched with mild surprise as they sensed the change in Deidara's personality. Pein looked particularly intrigued.

"Now," began Deidara in a sickeningly sweet voice, "First thing first, I _do not _make jewelry for sale. I make it for art!" He locked eyes with Pein, and though he was being himself, he tamed his attitude with a will of steel. He did not want to make a big scene in the middle of the cafeteria. "Also, I am sorry to say I don't particularly care for working with expensive materials. I am not a master jeweler. Sasori-danna's ring is made from genuine white gold, amethyst, and onyx. It took me over two weeks to make it, and it was a pain in the ass!"

Pein seemed perplexed at Deidara's unconscious use of Sasori's nickname in public, but Deidara didn't notice.

"Second, I do not appreciate you stalking me, asking about me, pulling my personal file, or however the _hell _you know where I work." Deidara growled, his tone changing from dismissive to threatening in a beat. "And third, even if I was willing to make another ring of that quality, I only make things when they interest me! You and your friends and your requests do not interest me. The only reason I gave him the ring, was because I could see he appreciated the _artistic _value, as you clearly do not. Also why I'm standing here right now is because Akasuna just happened to be on my good side today!" snapped Deidara. Without another word Deidara whipped around, grabbed Tobi by the upper arm and began dragging him toward their table.

Tobi who was, for once, shocked into silence by the abrupt change in Deidara's personality, waved lightly in the Akatsuki's general direction out of habit.

The Akatsuki were too shell-shocked to react at first.

Itachi was the first to break the silence and it was with a chuckle. "I told you he'd be interesting," he mused.

"Why that little-" Kisame began to rise from his seat but was stopped firmly by Zabuza who, although very pissed, knew that charging after the blonde would ruin their plan.

After getting over the surprise, Pein smirked in amusement. "This might be more fun than you originally thought, Itachi. I think there's more fire in him than you planned, but this might set us back a little bit in the plan," he said while pondering the changes they'd have to make.

Sasori didn't know what he was feeling. It had been years, since the 'incident', that one person had brought forth this much emotion from him. Not that he didn't hide it well, his face was the epitome of a statue.

Irritation, surprise, calm, and he couldn't erase the feelings of happiness, warmth, or hurt; although, those three emotions were minuscule in comparison to the others. All were emotions that he had categorized in the back of his mind, for when he had to interact with other people, but he'd never had a reason to feel them.

And he'd only truly noticed the blonde the day before. He had been very content when Deidara said 'no' to crafting the other Akatsuki members' rings. Although, he had been somewhat worried about Pein's reaction, and if he would force the blonde to make them, but even then, the blonde surprised him.

He would _never_ admit, or even acknowledge, that he felt a little hurt at being called by his last name, or that Deidara had only given him the ring on a whim. No, he was definitely not hurt. It was to be expected after all. They clearly did not get along; of course Deidara had given it to him on a whim. He hadn't even known Sasori when he started making it!

"He does, however, appear to like Sasori."

Sasori, having been lost in his own thoughts, snapped his head up to stare at Pein while raising an eyebrow at this. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, was I mistaken in thinking that wooden thing hanging from his bag was made by you?" inquired Pein. "It looks like something you made," he said thoughtfully, "And then there's that _lovely _nickname he gave you." Pein chuckled on the last part before asking, "Where did he get 'danna' from, Sasori? Is he of interest to you Sasori? Because you know, if he is we will back off. It's very rare that you take a liking to anyone…"

"It was in exchange for the ring," dismissed Sasori before referring to Deidara's nickname for him, "and hell if I know, but I guarantee you, he only does it to annoy me," said Sasori with a slight shrug. "And I certainly have no interest in him." He didn't mention that the nickname didn't actually annoy him at all.

"Since you don't have an interest in him, we could use this to our advantage." Itachi jumped into the conversation.

"How?" inquired Zabuza

"Sasori," said Itachi as he turned his head to look directly at said boy, "_You _will befriend him."

Sasori scoffed at the ridiculousness of the idea. Out of everyone in the group, he was the _last _person anyone could hope to make friends with. He hated people in general. He preferred to be alone with his puppets.

"Actually, I think that could work, Sasori," cut in Pein. "You just have to put in a bit of effort."

Sasori shot him an icy glare. "And what if I don't want to?"

"Just think of it this way," shrugged Pein, "The quicker you get him to hang out with us, the sooner you can quit trying. Just gain a bit of his trust, set up a day for us to attempt to gain his trust, and then you can go back to your art. You know Itachi won't leave you alone until his little game begins."

"Fine," Sasori sighed before laying his head down on the table wearily, trying to think of the quickest, and most effective way to gain the blonde's trust. _What am I getting myself into?_ He never questioned the slight throb of emotion that briefly crossed his mind, in fact, he pushed it aside as easily as swatting a fly. An emotion mostly referred to by many as guilt.

Deidara ignored the stares as he dragged Tobi back to their normal table. Most of them were awe-inspired stares, while the rest looked pitying.

It wasn't until he and Tobi had sat down at their table that he realized what _exactly _he had done.

He had just played with fire, and now he was _praying _he wouldn't get burned.

"Shit! That was fucking awesome! You looked fuckin' bad-ass, staring Pein down like that," cheered Hidan almost as soon as he sat down. "And the way you just slapped Zabuza's arm away, damn! You have more bravery in your pinky than half these shit-heads have in their entire fuckin' body." Hidan said referring to the students who were now whispering amongst themselves about what just happened.

Deidara promptly slammed his head into the table while muttering 'dammit'.

"What's wrong, Dei-sempai?" asked Tobi, his childlike innocence returning now that they were out of danger.

Deidara cursed mentally as he pulled at the hair hanging on the left side of his face, a habit he had developed whenever he was upset, "Dammit, fuck," cursed Deidara into his arms. "What have I done? I cannot get in trouble _again_." he groaned.

Gaara, Hidan, and Tobi all looked at each other perplexed, but with a mix of curiosity.

"What do you mean?" asked Tobi gently.

Deidara sighed before shifting his head so that his chin was resting on his arms, and he could look at them. "Nothing, it doesn't really matter, un," assured Deidara.

"Quit avoiding the fucking question and answer it so we can all quit worrying," growled Gaara, shocking everyone at the table. It was true he rarely spoke, but it was surprising to see how adamant he was about this particular subject. Not to mention Gaara just used the word 'worry' in reference to himself. The world may very well end.

Deidara groaned; burying his head back in his arms.

"I don't wanna talk about it, un!" he grumbled just loud enough so they could hear him.

"Speak," commanded Gaara, his glare intensifying.

Hidan glanced back and forth between Deidara, not entirely understanding what was going on. All he knew, was Gaara was not _his _friend. He was Tobi's and Deidara's, and even though he could be dense, Hidan could sense that there was more to the conversation than met the eye. Hence, he decided to make a graceful departure. "Well, fuckers, I'm gonna go see if the cafeteria ladies have any damn chicken bones." He said as he quickly left his seat, quickly tagging on an excuse about needing _something_ to give Jashin.

Neither of the three of them, not even Tobi, noticed his departure.

When Deidara refused to acknowledge his demand, Gaara allowed a smirk to settle on his face. "Tell us, or I'll let it slip to Sasori that you are the one who blew up that thing on their lunch table, yesterday."

At mention of yesterday's prank, Deidara bolted up in his seat, "No!"

"I think he mentioned yesterday during a family dinner that the Akatsuki are out to destroy whoever dared to embarrass them," continued Gaara. No, this was a complete and utter lie, Sasori never spoke at dinner unless directly asked, but Deidara didn't need to know that.

"You can't!" Deidara looked at Gaara pleadingly, hoping that perhaps he could wriggle his way onto Gaara's merciful side.

"Then talk." Gaara and Tobi stared at him expectantly.

The blonde sagged forward in defeat. He forgot. Gaara doesn't _have_ a merciful side.

"Fine," he sighed, "What exactly do I have to tell you guys?"

"Whatever you are a comfortable-" Tobi was cut off abruptly by Gaara who glared at him.

"_Everything," _deadpanned Gaara.

Deidara glanced around, noticing that quite a few people kept staring in his direction. Probably wondering why the Akatsuki had singled him out.

"Fine," he relented. Tobi had accepted his eye, which he would probably be forced to share with Gaara, or else, Tobi might mention it. That didn't mean he had to tell them about his hands! "Can we just… go to the library or something?" pleaded Deidara in a quiet whisper. "I don't want anyone to overhear," he said before mumbling, "On the off chance that Akatsuki decides to try and blackmail me."

Gaara nodded in agreement, and he was the first to stand up and head toward the library. Tobi waited patiently for Deidara to stand up and follow them.

Deidara couldn't help but hear some murmurings from his fellow students as he passed. Certain words stood out to him, but he couldn't fully hear them.

"…what did he do?... pissed them off somehow... something to do with the explosion yesterday?"

The last statement made him want to smile ruefully. _If only they knew._

A few moments after they left, the white-haired male returned to their abandoned table, looking around confusedly. "Where the hell did those little bastards go? They fuckin' left me!"

* * *

><p><strong>Tehe, glad I gott this out here. I've been stalling since I'm almost out of pre-written chapters.<strong>

**Once again:**

**Beta'd by: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Until Next time ~ ;D**


	4. Denial

**Hello Again~**

**I just want to send a big shout out to the few who reviewed the last chapter! I know Sasori X Deidara isn't as popular as SasuNaru and therefore I am extremely happy that I am getting the portion of reviews that I am! **

**So here is Chapter 4~**

**Beta'd By: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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><p>Deidara sat rigidly in the tall chair that was situated at a table in the back corner of the library. Gaara sat silently to his right, as they waited for Tobi to return with hot chocolate. Deidara imagined only a high scale school such as KHS could afford to serve hot chocolate in their library, but this did make the library more preferable to hang out in.<p>

"Alright! French Vanilla for Gaara, and normal for me and Deidara!" gushed Tobi in a hushed voice. Deidara smiled. Only Tobi could be quiet while acting as if he was yelling.

He took his hot chocolate thankfully and waited for Tobi to get situated.

"Alright," Gaara broke the silence, "Now tell us."

"Okay, un," sighed Deidara, "But I'll just give you an abbreviated version." At Gaara's glare he quickly added, "If you have any questions you can ask me, and I'll answer truthfully, but I don't want to sit here for hours telling details that probably don't matter."

Gaara frowned, but after a moment's contemplation he nodded.

"Okay, so quick and to the point, my parents died when I was fourteen. All their money was left to pay for my schooling and the government pays for my apartment. I work part-time at a jewelry store to pay for everything else." Deidara leaned back in his chair to get more comfortable; his eyes settled comfortably on his hands holding his cup.

"In the past year, I went to two schools previous to this one. And at each school I stood out as a troublemaker. I love to make art, which both of you know, but only Gaara has seen my favorite type of art before yesterday. Although, I don't think he saw it as art," Deidara added as an afterthought. "Anyway, I believe art should be fleeting." He didn't go into his reasons. Now was not the time to get into a rant about his personal opinion. "Before I came here, I would always make small fireworks, colorful flames, or anything that would disappear eventually. My favorite was, and always has been, flammable clay. However, clay is expensive and thanks to a friends I have gotten into origami. The vase and flowers from yesterday are true examples of my art."

"So, the origami bird that Tobi lit on fire yesterday was one of them?" inquired Gaara. Tobi seemed more alert at this as he glanced at Gaara before turning back to Deidara, who was smiling.

"Un, I had to put it out before it exploded. And on that note," continued Deidara, "I started making things that exploded when I was 11 years old. I went to the hospital quite a bit back then until I learned the right measurements.

"Anyway, at each school I made quite a few friends; usually problem kids who liked the idea of explosives. Eventually though, complications would cause my friends to turn on me. I used my art in my defense, and I ended up expelled, both times. When I came here, the school board threatened that if I so much as thought about explosives while attending this school, they would expel me." Deidara paused before mumbling quietly, "And… I like it here."

Tobi reached out to pat his wrist comfortingly, and was probably smiling, but neither Deidara nor Gaara could see with his mask on.

"What 'complications'?" asked Gaara after a few moments of the three of them staring at each other, drinking hot chocolate.

Deidara hesitated here. Tobi already knew, but only part of it, and he didn't want to share the other part. His eye had always freaked people out, but it was his hands that had them running.

Slowly, making a decision, Deidara swept the hair from his face behind his ear. He could feel Gaara's gaze resting intently on his eye, which for the moment was clenched shut despite his decision. Letting out a long breath, he opened his eye.

Gaara leaned forward slightly, to get a better look.

"When my parents died," explained Deidara, his eyes firmly staring at the table, avoiding eye contact with Gaara, "it was in a car accident. Glass skewered my eye in the accident and damaged it beyond repair. But I wanted to be able to see again. I was sent to a special doctor who would make me a false eye, and it was there I found out he was working on a biomechanical eye. I asked him if it would allow me to see. He said 'yes, hypothetically' but that it had never been tested. I offered to let him use me as an experiment if I could have the surgery for free. I had already completely lost my sight in my left eye, I had nothing to lose."

"What were the risks?" asked Tobi curiously. Deidara already knew that the boy was curious about his eye.

"There was the high possibility that it wouldn't work and I'd have to get a glass eye, and then there was a small possibility that my right eye could be damaged. The chance that it would actually work was slim to none, but I took it and it turned out better than either the doctor or I could have hoped." Deidara smiled slightly at this, still avoiding eye contact. It wasn't until Gaara grabbed his chin and turned his head so he could see his eye better that he actually met his eyes.

"What did you mean when you were you talking about a 'low profile'?" asked Tobi.

Deidara sighed wearily, never breaking eye contact with Gaara. "Well, un, I have a tendency to pick fights with those who think they're all high and mighty," Deidara broke eye contact with Gaara so he could look at Tobi. "The Akatsuki are the epitome of my least favorite kind of people. But not only can I not do anything without risking being expelled, but the Akatsuki could ruin my life!" Deidara's voice was becoming panicked. "I thought I'd avoided them pretty well, since coming here, but ever since yesterday, it's like I'm the center of their universe, un!" he cried distressed.

"After the explosion?" asked Gaara.

"That's the worst part, un!" whined Deidara, "As far as I can tell, they don't suspect I have anything to do with it! The only thing I did that caught their attention was running to Hidan to find you yesterday!" He waved his arm at Tobi, despite not really needing to clarify who he meant.

"Don't worry Deidara-sempai," Tobi placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder. "As long as you're friends with me, Itachi can't kick you out of school or do anything to affect your job. I won't let him." Tobi spoke firmly.

Deidara noticed Tobi was acting like he had the day before. He was being more serious. It was still a little weird, but as long as Tobi kept his mask on Deidara didn't feel too freaked out. In fact, he felt relieved.

"So, you won't tell anyone, right?" The question was directed more towards Gaara. He already knew Tobi wouldn't say anything.

Gaara nodded in understanding, before cocking his head slightly as a thought came to mind.

"What? Un," asked Deidara.

"Why do you not want people to see your eye? A lot of people have fake eyes," asked Gaara.

Deidara smirked wryly at this. "Well, Ga-chan," Gaara glared, "because it is obviously mechanical, many people freak out and say I'm an android or that I'm x-raying their clothes." Deidara rolled his eyes. "They tend to exaggerate and then eventually, they begin to bully- well, attempt to bully- me," Deidara shrugged, pretending he didn't care, but the though brought back bad memories.

Gaara nodded at this explanation. Tobi was… well, they couldn't really tell, but Deidara thought he was smiling.

Deidara smiled at both of them before draping his hair back over his face. He had gotten so used to the veil that he felt almost naked without it.

Just as Deidara realized he hadn't even touched his drink, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Ooh! Tobi is a good boy! Tobi must get to class early!"

Before either Gaara or Deidara could react, Tobi was gone.

"I swear he's bipolar, un!" mumbled the blonde.

Gaara just rolled his eyes and stood up. However, instead of leaving, he turned to look at Deidara. "I hope, after trusting us with this secret, that you might feel you can trust us with the rest." Gaara spoke calmly, "We won't judge you. We aren't that shallow." He let his gazed drop to Deidara's gloved hands, making the blonde stiffen. "But, do not rush; we will wait until you are ready." The last part was said so quietly, Deidara almost didn't hear it, and then Gaara was gone as well.

Deidara wanted nothing more than to sprawl across the library table and just pass out. He had officially exhausted himself with all his worrying. But he couldn't, he had to go to class: Free Period. The blonde groaned. Free Period, that meant Sasori, which meant there was a high possibility that other Akatsuki members would be there. He really didn't want to go, but he knew he didn't really have a choice.

* * *

><p>When he arrived at class he noticed Itachi standing next to Sasori's table, talking with the redhead. Deidara took the same seat as the day before, refusing to show any fear. The Uchiha quit talking as soon as he sat down, but Deidara ignored the other to the best of his ability and pulled out his iPod in hopes of forgetting the eyes drilling holes in the back of his head.<p>

He turned the volume up high enough that he couldn't hear the other two and pulled out his sketch book so he could work on some more designs. As he began working he felt the Uchiha's stare leave him, making him feel more relaxed. He had been worried they might try to coerce him like they had at lunch. He had actually worried that all of the Akatsuki might be waiting for him, but that was a bit much. They did have their own classes to attend, after all.

It was while his music was transitioning between songs that he overheard something that caught his interest.

"Kisame wants to know what we are going to do." Itachi spoke in a low voice, which normally wouldn't be heard by someone with an iPod in their ears, but Deidara had heard it.

Without drawing too much attention, Deidara muted his iPod before going back to drawing. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he had a feeling he should keep his ears open.

"I don't care," sighed Sasori in response to Itachi's comment.

"We need to do something different. He's grown used to our normal tactics, and we can't get rid of him because Tobi is protecting him."

This caught Deidara's interest. _Who are they talking about?_ They couldn't be talking about him. Was there someone they were bullying?"

"I don't care what happens to the Jashin-worshipping idiot," said Sasori. Based on his tone, Deidara assumed he was scowling.

"I know, but you usually have some good ideas when it comes to torturing someone," insisted Itachi.

There was a long pause in which Deidara had to force himself to draw, but every stroke of his pencil sounded louder than it actually was.

Finally, Sasori answered.

"If it will make you leave me the fuck alone, _please,_ just destroy that thing you keep stealing from him, if it's that important. I mean seriously, I don't see the point because your options are limited thanks to your cousin's protection. Just forget that fowl-mouthed cure. He isn't worth the effort." Sasori spoke without any emotion, but sighed at the end, "I really don't care."

Itachi chuckles, "But you are always so evil when it comes to thinking up these types of things. Hm, meet you after Free Period? We'll go steal the cross at the end of school."

"Whatever."

Deidara tensed when Itachi passed him on his way out. He didn't like the boy. He was handsome, sure, but very dark.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Sasori absorbed in whatever he was making that day.

He kept thinking about what he'd overheard. He had to do something. And he knew just what to do. He put his sketch book down and pulled out the bag that held his black thread and false stones. He was running out, but they should last him until supplies by the school were ordered.

He glanced toward Haku's desk, but the teacher was once more absent. _Why the hell is he always gone? Un!_ One more glance at Sasori to make sure he wasn't paying any attention to him, and Deidara reached for a small bag that was meant to hold precious stones. He didn't have any at the moment, but he did use it to hold something else….

He upturned the bag and smiled evilly when a bunch of small, plastic-wrapped balls fell out. Each was marked with a color to say what they did. Tsunade did say I wasn't allowed to damage school property. Deidara smirked to himself; _she never said anything about _personal_ property._

Slowly, so as not to attract attention, he slipped off one of his gloves before palming through his materials once more. He was missing a few materials in particular because he wasn't planning on risking his enrollment anytime soon, but he could make do with what he had.

It took half of class, and many anxious glances to make sure Sasori wasn't watching, before he was done.

Quietly, he slipped only what he needed at the moment in his pocket before standing up and heading toward the door.

"Where are you going, brat?"

Deidara froze momentarily before relaxing. There was no way Sasori could know he was up to something. Without turning his body, Deidara glanced back over his shoulder at the redhead. "I'm simply going to the bathroom, Sasori-san." He spoke as calmly as he could before walking out of the room.

Sasori's eyes narrowed suspiciously. The brat never called him anything other than 'danna', and despite his calm nature, Sasori had suspected the blonde kept looking at him during class. He knew the other was up to something, and this made him somewhat curious, which was odd, because he never cared about anyone other than himself. He decided to dismiss the thought, however, as him wondering if Deidara's secret had anything to do with him. And, because that was highly unlikely, he dismissed his thoughts of Deidara all together…

_Hm, wonder what the brat was doing before he left?_

"Okay, so you understand the instructions, right Tobi?" inquired Deidara.

"Yes! Tobi is a good boy! Tobi has photographic memory!" exclaimed his exuberant friend.

"Okay, now listen, un," insisted Deidara, " I can't be there when it goes off. I have to get back to class before it ends. Otherwise, Sasori might get suspicious."

""I understand, Deidara," replied Tobi in a more serious voice. All the childishness disappeared.

"Un," nodded Deidara, "Now, show me which car is Itachi's…"

* * *

><p>Itachi strode down the hall with confidence, as always. Kisame and Zabuza flanked him on either side. The rest of the student body made way for them automatically. They were, after all, the 'top dogs' (so to speak). Upon reaching the main hallway, their target stood next to next to his locker, as well as Itachi's cousin. This didn't deter Itachi though. Tobi could fight the system to protect his friend from being expelled or foreclosed on, but it wasn't like they had to go through some sort of system to steal and destroy a necklace. Tobi could do nothing in this instant; he may be smart, but he sure as hell wasn't a fighter.<p>

Pein stood on the opposite side of the hall, eyes on the target, in case he made a run for it. Itachi noted curiously that Sasori was walking next to a certain blonde down a side hallway that connected to the art room.

The entire hall seemed to go quiet when people realized that the Akatsuki weren't just walking through. Students within ten feet of Tobi and Hidan dispersed immediately upon seeing where Itachi's gaze was directed.

And with this silence came awareness. Hidan stiffened before turning to face his oncoming predicament, while Tobi stepped just a tad closer to his friend.

"Hello," Itachi spoke first, his tone that of someone about to conduct business. "Well, I am pleased to inform you that today will be your last day of misery." Itachi smirk contradicted what he was saying, "However, unfortunately for you, our last act won't be as mild as in the past."

To everyone's surprise Hidan remained quiet. It had become well-known that Hidan jumped at any chance to cuss out the Akatsuki. And now that the big showdown had come, he kept his mouth closed.

"'Tachi," began Tobi, his voice a mild whisper, but with a hint of pleading, "Just leave it where it is. There's no need to do any of this."

Itachi scoffed. "Zabuza, Kisame." Itachi stepped back so his partners in crime could do all the dirty work.

After a few seconds, however, Kisame was growling, "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" asked Itachi, unaware of the situation.

"The necklace," informed Zabuza, "he isn't wearing it."

Itachi checked for himself, but it was true. Instead of the usually mutated cross, Hidan's chest was naked.

"Let's search him," stated Zabuza. Zabuza pulled the Uchiha back so that he and Kisame could do said search.

It wasn't until the two of them had already stepped forward that Itachi noticed the small origami figure in Tobi's hand and the flash of a spark, "Wait-"

The origami figure, now clear to be a swan, was quickly flipped into the air between the three of them, and in a shower of purple sparks the entire thing exploded into a rain of crimson paint.

To Itachi's displeasure, he still received a heavy wave of paint on his person, despite having two big oafs in front of him.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. The students stood gaping at the scene.

Itachi had paint streaking down his body in a line from head to toe, and his face was covered. The other two were completely covered. No one knew what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Here 'Tachi, the creator left a note for you." Tobi held out an origami weasel with words written on it. After a few seconds Itachi reached for the note with trembling hands.

Tobi could tell Itachi was pissed. The mechanics in his eye had stopped spinning, which meant he was either thoroughly pissed or shocked. Maybe… maybe it was both?

Slowly, Itachi unfolded the paper weasel until he could read the entire note. By that time, Pein had walked over to see what was up. He and Itachi read the note together.

_You clearly didn't heed my warning and if_

_you are reading this it means you tried something._

_I'm sorry to say that this isn't your punishment_

_for going after Hidan. This was merely protection._

_Now, your punishment begins…_

Before Itachi or Pein could even comprehend what they had read, a loud boom shook the school.

"What the _hell_" Exclaimed Kisame.

"What was that?" asked Zabuza somewhat uneasily.

Students in the main hall were looking at each other and whispering.

"What's going on?" Sasori and Deidara approached together.

"Hidan! Tobi! Are you guys okay? That was cool, un!" Deidara exclaimed.

Upon seeing Sasori's suspicious gaze and Itachi's glare, Deidara quickly attempted to amend his statement. "What? The paint was awesome! I mean, it's like a work of art! You're an artist! How can you not like it Sasori-danna?"

Sasori scoffed at this, "I don't like anything that's…messy.

Deidara just cocked his one visible eyebrow before shrugging. "So what was the-"

Before he could finish yells could be heard from outside. It started as a small commotion, but it gradually increased in volume as students could be seen rushing from the parking lot toward the school.

"Someone call the fire department!"

"-huge explosion-"

"It just blew up-"

"-car looked like Uchiha's-"

At the last statement everyone in the room seemed to go silent. All eyes slowly turned toward Itachi who stood frozen, note in hand. Slowly, his hand crushed the note and he briskly started toward the door. Pein, Zabuza, and Kisame followed after him curiously.

"Shit! That was fuckin' awesome! Tobi! How did you know they were going to come after me today? And where did you get that bomb?" Hidan was practically bouncing of the walls in excitement.

Tobi giggled while handing Hidan his necklace that had been stashed in his pocket.

"Well…"Tobi threw a glance at Sasori who was still standing next to Deidara. He would have to make something up. It was times like this that he was glad Hidan was dense. One would think the boy would be able to connect the dots between the previous incident and the one that just took place. "Let's just say I've been keeping an eye on my cousin, and I asked a friend of mind to make 'this'," he gestured at lump of burnt paper, "And they were more than happy to oblige. Of course, if 'Tachi-san had just been a good boy, his car wouldn't have been attacked! I specifically told my friend to only detonate the car bomb if he didn't back down!"

"You attacked his car?" asked Sasori.

"Yup!"

"You know he loves that car right?" Sasori sighed.

"Yup!"

"And now I'm gonna have to deal with him moping and plotting?"

"Yup! …oh, sorry," Tobi quit his active bouncing for a moment to give Sasori a sincere apology.

Deidara just rolled his eyes, how bad could Itachi be?

"Aren't you gonna go see what happened like the rest of them?" inquired Deidara, before feigning curious excitement, "I wonder if it was another paint bomb! Un!"

"No." Sasori scowled, "Why would I go looking for him when he's going to find me later? I don't care what happens to his 'precious' car. He has enough money to buy ten of them."

With that said Sasori walked off in a pissy mood, making Deidara chuckle. "Thanks for covering for me Tobi."

"No problem Dei-sempai!" exclaimed Tobi.

Hidan looked slowly between the two before realization hit him. "It was-"

A hand slapped over his mouth before he could finish announcing Deidara's secret to the entire student body. Thankfully none were in hearing distance of a normal talking level.

"Thanks Gaara," said Deidara with a smile.

"Gaara nodded before turning to glare at the white-haired man. "You. Shut up."

Hidan merely nodded before Gaara removed his hand.

Gaara turned to Deidara with a smirk. "I happened to be skipping class behind the school and got a good view of your handy work."

"Did it turn out well?" laughed Deidara.

"Very…fiery," commented Gaara.

This only made Deidara chuckle more.

"How did you detonate it?" asked Gaara.

"I had Tobi give me one of the remotes to Itachi's car, and I strategically placed the igniter fuel near the engine. All I had to do was hit one little button," said Deidara smugly.

"Well, I'm going to go offer my cousin a ride home… and call a tow truck. He'll probably be in mourning all night before he begins plotting revenge." Tobi stated rather calmly before turning to leave. Gaara followed him wordlessly, leaving Deidara and Hidan just standing there.

"So…" Hidan paused in thought, "I haven't done anything to make you angry at me, right?"

Deidara rolled his eyes before turning away with a scoff.

* * *

><p>Sasori carried his finished piece to his car while dreading the upcoming days. There was no way Itachi wasn't going to try to get him to help. After all, he apparently was good at coming up with shit like that. He was pretty sure the brat was the one who told Tobi what Itachi was planning. They had been talking about it in class, and Deidara had started acting weird after Itachi left. However, he wasn't going to tell Itachi that. It would probably be harder to befriend the blonde if Itachi was going after him in a blinded rage.<p>

For now, he was trying to figure out how to get the boy to hang out with Akatsuki. He had gone a whole class period without calling the brat 'brat'. Ok, maybe he called him brat once. The point was, he was stumped. He had managed to make it so the two of them left together without actually asking, but other than tolerating each other, he hadn't made any progress. He was going to have to actually put effort into this, or he'd never hear the end of it. The last thing he needed was Kisame and Itachi ragging on him for ruining their fun.

* * *

><p>Deidara sat behind the desk, lounging across two chairs with his sketch book in his lap. It was another slow day, like always. Kurenai had said she hadn't had one customer all day, and it hadn't changed with Deidara's arrival. Even the weather was dismal; it was pouring outside. Because business was literally non-existent, Kurenai had actually left her son in his care while she ran to the coffee shop just down the street. Deidara didn't like coffee, but he did enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate. So he waited patiently while sketching out ideas. Asuma, the baby was named after the father, slept peacefully in his carrier under the counter.<p>

The bell rang signaling the entrance of someone.

"Oh my," laughed Kurenai as she pulled off a rain coat. "It is pouring."

Deidara chuckled but nodded in agreement.

"How was my baby boy?" she inquired gently as she came around the counter and handed Deidara his hot chocolate.

"Slept the whole time, un." Deidara laughed mentally at the way the woman made faces at her sleeping child. He wondered if his parents ever did that to him.

"Oh, Deidara, did you know one of your friends is waiting for you?" asked Kurenai.

"What? What do you mean?" Deidara looked at her confused.

"There's a boy standing outside the shop in the rain. I asked him if he was waiting for someone and he said he was waiting for you. I asked him if he wanted to come inside, but he declined. No matter how much I insisted he wouldn't come in." She spoke in an exasperated tone with her hands on her hips. "Stubborn brat."

"What did he look like?" frowned Deidara. He had never told his friends where the place he worked was.

"Well, he had red hair. Other than that, I couldn't really see him with how hard the rain was falling. It's like a curtain of water out there!

"I'll go talk to him," Deidara stood quickly and headed toward the door. He couldn't help but wonder why Gaara would be waiting for him, or how he even found him!

"Hey! Umbrella!" yelled Kurenai

He grabbed an umbrella at the last second before slipping outside and looking around. It didn't take long for him to spot the head of crimson hair which looked darker when wet.

"Gaara-," Deidara stopped once he got close enough. It wasn't Gaara. Gaara was a good head shorter than him, though it did not diminish his intimidating attitude. This figure was at an equal height as him, if not slightly taller.

"What-," Deidara couldn't even begin to comprehend why the boy in front of him was there, or how he knew where he worked! Wait, yes he did, Akatsuki knew where he worked, it was simply a matter of how they _found out_ where he worked. "What are you doing here Sasori-danna?"

The boy looked at him with a blank face. He leaned calmly against the brick building behind him with his arms crossed. From the way he acted, one would assume it wasn't raining.

Deidara stepped closer, raising the umbrella so it would go over Sasori's head and cover both of them. This action brought them relatively close, but Deidara ignored it as it was necessary. His conscious wouldn't allow him to let someone, even Sasori, stand in the pouring rain.

Sasori, on the other hand, was very aware of their closeness. He wasn't one for being close to people, hell, he didn't like sitting at the lunch table because someone was always next to him, but he didn't mind this. He was surprised that Deidara had offered him part of the umbrella though. Realizing the blonde was waiting for an answer to his question, Sasori shrugged.

"Aren't you cold?" asked Deidara.

Sasori shrugged once more, he honestly didn't really feel it.

Deidara reached out to brush his fingers against the redhead's arm; both boys flinched in surprise; Sasori because of surprise, and Deidara because of how cold the other boy's skin was. Sasori vaguely noted that this was the second time Deidara had touched him of his own accord, which not many people did. Occasionally an Akatsuki member would dare, but a glare quickly put them in their place for a few months. He didn't really mind the blonde's touch though; it wasn't uncomfortable.

He was jolted out of his inner musings by something being jammed over his head, and suddenly he was enveloped in warmth. His arms were pinned to his sides and, looking down, he noted that Deidara had somehow shoved his white hoodie over his head without letting go of the umbrella. Looking at Deidara, he noted that the blonde wore a rather interesting black shirt that read 'Bite Me' with fish net sleeves. He wondered if the boy dared to wear it to school. Maybe that was why he never took his hoodie off.

Hmmm, did Sasori know for a fact that he never took it off? That would require staring at the blonde quite a bit, but yes, he was certain the blonde didn't take it off all day.

"Quit staring like that! It's creepy, un!" Deidara grabbed the other by a hollow sleeve and began tugging him toward the jewelry shop.

Sasori followed without question, but mainly, he was dazed by the warmth he felt. He supposed after wearing the thing all day that Deidara's body had warmed it, but that didn't explain why he felt it.

Deidara dragged him inside and past the front desk to the back room. After the blonde released him, Sasori stood in the middle of the room at a loss of what he was supposed to do. He supposed he could start with pulling his arms through the sleeves of the hoodie –or take it off all together- but he couldn't bother himself with such a task at the moment. He was watching the blonde curiously as he dragged in a chair from another room and placed it in the corner by the open door where one could see the empty shop.

Intrigued, Sasori let the blonde drag him once more, but this time in the direction of the chair where he was then man-handled into sitting in it.

"There, un. The room back here is warmer, but you can still talk- er, see me at the counter from here." The blonde bit his lip as he looked Sasori up and down, which –although not uncomfortable- Sasori found slightly annoying.

Deidara couldn't help but notice that the redhead looked extremely alluring with his hair plastered to his face and his clothes soaked through. The boy didn't seem affected by the rain at all. It was almost like he couldn't feel it. But despite how the boy felt, Deidara was not going to stand by and watch someone die of hypothermia!

Sasori watch as the blonde walked back into the store part of the building but returned almost immediately with a paper cup of steaming liquid. "Here, un."

Deidara waited patiently while the other boy simply stared at the cup as if it was going to attack him. "Well," Deidara raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to drink it? It's hot chocolate; it'll warm you up."

Sasori scoffed mentally at this because he wasn't cold – or at least, he couldn't feel it - but moved to take the cup. It took him a moment to work his arms through the sleeves of the hoodie – Deidara had glared when he tried to take it off - so he could grasp the cup. At the blonde's insistent staring Sasori took a sip of the liquid, but he didn't taste it. His sense of taste had long since dulled.

Deidara leaned in the doorway so he could keep an eye on the shop and the boy at the same time.

Under the blonde's watchful eyes, Sasori finished the drink.

Deidara shifted slightly when Sasori turned his gaze upon him. The redhead stared at him emotionlessly, creating a tension in the air. Deidara wished that Kurenai would come down, but she was probably putting her son to sleep.

Finally, unable to put up with the silence, Deidara spoke, albeit uneasily, "So…un, why are you here again?"

Sasori shrugged.

Deidara scowled.

Sasori rolled his eyes before deciding to answer, "To see you."

Now, Deidara had never been a particularly romantic person, but those words set off some butterflies in his stomach. He put it off as being crept out by Sasori's intense gaze. After this little contemplation, he quickly responded.

"Yeah, I figured that out on my own," he retorted, "What I meant was, why are you here to see me?"

Sasori didn't respond because he honestly didn't know. He had been thinking about how to make the blond trust him, but he didn't really think showing up at the blonde's work would do anything other than freak him out.

"Hello?" Deidara tried to get his attention.

"Hn," Sasori focused on Deidara, "I came to make a suggestion."

"A suggestion?" now Deidara was thrown for a loop.

"About the rings Pein wants you to-

"No."

"I was going to suggest-

"No."

"Will you shut up and listen?" growled Sasori.

"…No," Deidara smirked, but it quickly vanished as Sasori stood up, put the hot chocolate down, and walked forward until Deidara was trapped in the door jam. Deidara could literally taste the hot chocolate in the air as Sasori spoke, that was how close the were.

"Now, will you listen?" Sasori demanded to know.

"…maybe," Deidara never usually gave into pressure, but this was starting to get a little uncomfortable for him. Or at least very weird.

"I was going to suggest you make each of them their own unique ring, but with a similar design to mine. They don't have to be the same," stated Sasori, "It can still be artwork that way."

Deidara opened his mouth to respond, but Sasori interrupted him.

"Pein will pay for any supplies you need, as well as for your time."

Deidara hesitated, normally he'd refuse the offer like he had done earlier, but now that he wasn't in a rage, and money had been mentioned, he didn't know what to do. There was also the little fact that _Sasori _came out of his way to make the offer... though he didn't know why that made him think differently on the matter. _It's because he's an artist too and understands my passion, un, _reasoned Deidara. "How much?" he asked after a few moments of contemplating.

"Name a reasonable price," offered Sasori.

"Uh," Deidara racked his mind. He really had no idea, but he figured if he aimed low, he could still get a good chunk of cash. "$500?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow at this before scoffing. "You're going to get taken advantage of if you don't think to squeeze the rich bastard for all you can get. Fine, $2000 for your supplies, you can keep what you don't use, and if you need more just ask; $2000, for your services beforehand and an extra $2000 if you agree to make extras. I'm sure Pein would appreciate them for the future."

Deidara's eyes widened; he was in shock. He had no idea what to say. He turned his gaze to the floor. How could he say no?

Sasori watched as the other boy chewed his lip; obviously, money was a necessity for the other boy. He almost felt bad for exploiting the boy's weakness, but it was necessary.

Deidara sighed in defeat. "Ask your friends what colors they want and then I'll look into prices. It probably won't even cost $2000 for the materials." Deidara felt extremely weak, giving in to Akatsuki's demands so quickly, but… he could really use the money, and not just for things around the house, but he had to think about college. If he ever wanted to become a successful artist in the future, or…anything for that matter, he would need to go to college.

"Good," nodded Sasori, _now at least they won't bug me about that._ Not that the Akatsuki had bugged him about Deidara make the rings, but since he was in charge of making the blonde trust him, it was only a matter of time. Also, this way, his original job was even easier. If the blonde had been fighting against the Akatsuki over the rings, it would have been more difficult for Sasori to befriend him.

Deidara opened his mouth to say something when the bell connected to the front door rung. Deidara looked out into the shop to see who it was and immediately recognized someone who had brought their watch in to be cleaned. "One sec," he told the redhead before calmly pushing Sasori out of his space and stepping into the shop. Good evening Ms. Yamanaka, I was worried you weren't going to make it. It's almost 8 o'clock." Deidara welcomed the lady kindly while bringing her order out from under the counter.

"I know. I rushed all the way here. I almost forgot it to be honest," laughed the lady.

"Here you are" Deidara passed the small pouch over the counter, "and you've already paid I believe?" inquired Deidara as he pulled off the receipt attached to the pouch, "Yup, you're good to go!" He flashed a brilliant smile at the woman as she thanked him and headed toward the door.

"Come back again!" called Deidara as he waved. He smiled contentedly as she left; he loved making people happy. It wasn't until he felt the warm breath on the back of his neck that his smile dropped. He turned around to find Sasori's face only inches from his own. Deidara quickly looked off to the side so that his hair hid his face. There was no way, he was letting Sasori see the blush that was covering his face due to their close proximity.

Of course, that was precisely the reason he didn't see Sasori lean just a little bit closer until his nose brushed Deidara's hair.

"Uh," Deidara slipped to the side a little bit so there was some more space between them. "Ok, so you can tell Pein I'll make the rings. Um," Deidara didn't really know what to say. He glanced at the front of the shop and saw that it was still pouring. "How did you get here?"

Sasori stared at the back of the blonde's head- the boy was still avoiding his gaze. He didn't know why he had felt the need to stand so close to the other boy. He shrugged in response to Deidara's question, but realized that the boy wasn't looking at him. "I walked."

"In this rain?" Deidara turned around in shock, completely forgetting the awkward moment.

Sasori shrugged. "I don't mind the rain."

"Tch! Alright, just use the phone on the counter to call someone to pick you up." Deidara shook his head in the way one might do to scold a child.

"It's not important," Sasori replied, "I'll just walk back." He moved toward the door only to be stopped by a gloved hand grasping his cloak.

"At least call a taxi, I don't want to be blamed if you get sick," insisted Deidara.

Sasori stared at the hand that was on his shoulder. This was the third time the blonde had touched him, and yet, he didn't feel the need to kill him.

Deidara blushed when he realized what Sasori was looking at. He began to retract his hand when Sasori grabbed his wrist and dragged him closer.

Sasori smirked when he noticed Deidara's blush increase.

"Well then, how were you going to get home?" inquired Sasori with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh?" Deidara froze at the way Sasori was looking at him. "I was going to walk…"

Sasori's smirk widened, "So I need to take a taxi, and you can walk? Aren't you being a little bit hypocritical?" Sasori noticed the glove of Deidara's hand and casually ran is thumb over the blonde's palm. It surprised him when a shiver ran along the smaller boy's body.

"It's different!" insisted Deidara, ripping his arm out of Sasori's grasp. It had felt so weird having someone touch him there, one of his most sensitive spots. He decided to shout in order to hide his embarrassment. "I have an umbrella and my house is only a few blocks away! Your house is across town and you don't have an umbrella!"

"Hm," Sasori crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll walk with you."

"Good- wait, what?" Deidara was taken by surprise, but quickly his mood became irritated, "I am not walking you all the way home!"

"I meant I would walk with you to your house," explained the redhead.

"What?" Deidara was officially floored, "That's even worse! Then you'd have to walk even further to get home and it'd still be pouring!"

Sasori's brow furrowed as he began to get irritated with how stubborn and loud the other boy was being. "You are awful sure of yourself. How do you know where I live?"

"Because you're rich! All the rich people live on the other side of town. I don't need to investigate you in order to find out where you live and work," growled Deidara as he was reminded by the fact that Akatsuki had in fact been looking up information about him. "You live on the rich side of town and don't work because you don't have to!"

Sasori quickly realized that in his attempt to get closer to the blonde, he was actually angering the boy by bringing out some hidden resentment towards those with a lot of money; such as, him and the rest of the Akatsuki. He thought about just leaving to pacify the boy but decided against it. He had made some sort of progress and if he left now, it would be back to square one; not to mention it would be awkward the next time they spoke to each other.

"I would like to see your home." He didn't know why he said that; it would definitely have the opposite effect. He was right in that assumption because Deidara's face immediately turned red, and not from embarrassment. Before the blonde could explode, Sasori stepped forward and slapped a hand over the blonde's mouth. When the smaller boy tried to step out of reach, Sasori grasped the other's arm. "What I meant," he began again in an attempt to take his foot out of his mouth, "was, I would like to make sure you make it home safely. There are many things that could happen in a storm like this. Also, I would appreciate it if after we got to your home, you would lend me your umbrella to get back to my house."

Deidara glared and was very tempted to bite the other's hand, but for some reason he didn't. He was too busy staring the other boy down.

They stood there for a while until Sasori finally lowered his hand slowly.

"You expect me to believe that?" growled Deidara, a little more quietly than before. He didn't want Kurenai coming down to see what was wrong; actually, he was surprised she hadn't come down when he first started shouting. "I know exactly what you want. You just want a good laugh! I'm not stupid." He hissed.

Sasori was racking his brain. This was exactly why he hated talking to people. Not only were other people annoying, but he was simply not compatible with any other human being on the face of the earth! That and his people skills were seriously lacking. Now, he really needed to back track. The somewhat friendly atmosphere was completely gone. He didn't know why he decided to do what he was about to do, but he told himself it was because it was believable.

Using the hand that was still holding on to the blonde's upper arm, he spun the blond around until Deidara's back was pressed against the front counter and Sasori was leaning over him.

Deidara froze at the new position. He had not been expecting that! He could already feel his heart speeding up, which was ridiculous because there was absolutely nothing attractive about those piercing brown eyes.

Their nosed brushed slightly, but instead of closing the inch of space between them, Sasori slipped his head to the side so that he was whispering directly in the blonde's ear. "I was actually hoping we could spend more time together to get to know each other. I also figured that, not only was your house closer but that you would also be more comfortable in your own environment." He frown as he force the next part passed though his teeth. "I apologize if I upset you." He had never apologized to anyone in his life! But, it was necessary if he wanted this human interaction thing to be over as soon as possible, and he was definitely not enjoying the way the blonde shuddered against him.

"You expect me to believe that?" mumbled Deidara, a little breathless. He still couldn't get over the shock.

"I would have thought it was obvious," retorted Sasori as he back away a little bit. "After all, I wasn't exactly being inconspicuous at school." To be honest, he had merely been teasing the boy at school, but this was exactly where he got the idea from. It was notoriously known that he and the rest of the Akatsuki were gay, and the way he'd been teasing the blonde had been a little bit sexual. There was no turning back either way; if he said it was a joke then he'd be even further back than square one. "Do I really look like someone who jokes around with others? You should have realized that when I actually began to have serious conversations with you."

Actually, now that Sasori thought about it; why did he converse with the blonde? It wasn't until the night before that they'd deemed it necessary for Sasori to get close to him.

Deidara was very uncomfortable right now. Sure, he was gay too; what guy with waist length hair wasn't? But that was beside the point. He was very uncomfortable with the way Sasori was acting, maybe even a bit nervous? Either way, Deidara only had one defense for feeling uncomfortable: avoid it.

"Like I would know that?" he growled, "I've been going to Konoha High for two weeks and two days. That hardly gives me the knowledge of every aspect of your personality." He quickly pushed the redhead back, avoided the intense brown eyes he could feel starring at him, and began to get his things together to leave. "Anyway, I really need to get home, homework and all," Yeah right! All electives remember? "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Sasori frowned. Yes, the blonde no longer seemed angry, but he wondered if perhaps his little plan had backfired to some extent. Sure, the boy may still talk to him, but if he wasn't gay he might feel a little uncomfortable. Though, Sasori was pretty sure the blonde was gay; takes one to know one after all. Shrugging he headed toward the door to leave, but froze when the blonde addressed him.

"Wait." Deidara spoke on instinct and internally cursed his caring personality. "Are you still going to walk in the rain?"

Sasori just shrugged and turned back toward the door.

"Wait," Deidara hissed when the redhead seemed to brush off his comment. Seeing the other's impatient glare he sighed, "Fine, you can walk under my umbrella, but you are not coming in my house. I'm not even going to tell you which apartment is mine. You're going to take my umbrella to walk home and return it tomorrow, got it? Un."

Deidara didn't notice the smirk on the other's face as he grabbed his book bag and headed towards the door. "Are you ready?" He opened the door and locked it but waited for the redhead to step outside before closing it.

"I should be asking you that," said Sasori, "I tried to leave ten minutes ago. Can we go now? I don't want to be out all night."

Deidara rolled his eyes as he opened the umbrella, "Right this way Danna…" he mumbled. However he jumped when he felt a warm breath against his neck.

"I'm beginning to wonder what sorts of things go on in your mind; especially with how you favor that nickname. Not that I mind," chuckled Sasori. He hadn't planned on going further with the romance plan, but he couldn't help himself. This was getting entertaining… and the blonde had totally set himself up for that one.

"What goes on in my mind has nothing to do with it!" Shouted Deidara; once again on the defensive. "I gave you that nickname because of how demanding you are!"

"Hm, _demanding_..." pondered Sasori, "Well, I can assure you that I am a very _demanding_ person…"

Deidara couldn't hide the blush that now covered every inch of his body. His new nickname should be pervert! "Just come on!" He practically dragged the redhead toward his home in order to keep him under the umbrella.

"Impatient are we?"

"Aaah! Just shut up!" growled Deidara as he began dragging the other even faster. _Yeah, impatient to get home so I can get rid of you!_

Sasori just smirked. Oh, yes, he definitely found his way into the blonde's heart, a little unconventional, but in the end, he would be entertained and the Akatsuki would be happy.

Deidara sighed in relief when he saw the alcohol store under his flat just up ahead. He dragged the other boy under the awning above the shop door before he stopped and handed the other boy the umbrella. "There, my home is within running distance. Now you can go home."

"Young man?"

Deidara immediately turned around to see his landlord coming out of the shop. "Yes sir?"

"Oh thank goodness, I was beginning to get worried when you hadn't returned home yet. There's a tornado warning; they just announced it on the radio. You and your friend should hurry up to your room."

"That's horrible. We should hurry inside, right brat?" a taunting voice said from behind him.

Deidara stiffen. He could almost imagine the smirk on Sasori's face.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

* * *

><p><strong>Hope all enjoyed that!<strong>

**Until Next Time...**

**Con amor! ~ ;D**


	5. Confusion

**Beta: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Chapter 5: Confusion**

**A/N~ It's been FOREVER! No excuses, just enjoy! ;D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

The walk to school had been very quiet, but not necessarily awkward; well, not for Sasori anyway. He preferred silence. However, he had a feeling the blond had felt awkward from the moment he had woken the redhead up.

Actually, the blond had been awkward the moment he had realized the redhead would be going into his home; 'home' being the key word. In no way could Deidara's home be considered an apartment, house, or anything else! Sasori supposed it could be considered a flat, but if you were being completely realistic, it was a room. All in all though, the experience had been very enlightening for Sasori…

XxXxXxX

_Sasori followed the blond around the side of the alcohol shop until they came to a set of steps; very old, dangerous looking steps. Though, they seemed sturdy enough during the actual climb. Sasori kept his face carefully blank -not that it was hard for him- so as not to make the blond feel even more uncomfortable. He didn't want to lose any of the ground he had gained and this was just another opportunity to earn the blond's trust; sooner than he had hoped too._

_Deidara hesitated when he reached for door knob as if thinking about something._

_"Um, just wait here for one minute!"_

_Sasori opened his mouth to protest, but the door was literally slammed in his face before he could comprehend what had happened. Frowning, he stood impatiently in the rain; at least the brat had left the umbrella. After 30 seconds of waiting, he became extremely frustrated._

_"Brat! I hate to be kept waiting; let me in! I don't give a damn what your room looks like!" Sasori banged his fist against the door much harder than would normally be accepted._

_" Well, excuse me Danna, but maybe _I_ care! Did you ever think of that?" came the sassy reply._

_Sasori growled, but realized he was getting nowhere. " Be that as it may, considering the weather, if I stand out here any longer, I think I might just be swept away by a tornado."_

_He raised his fist to bang again but stopped when the door was opened._

_"Sorry," the blond actually appeared sincere in his apology, "I didn't really think about the weather, I'm just, uh… very self-conscious about my home. I don't normally have guests over."_

_The redhead shrugged it off and started to step forward when he realized the blond was completely blocking his way. "May I come in?" he inquired._

_"Oh, un," the blond shuffled to the side a bit and the redhead stepped inside._

What could he have possibly been cleaning?_ Sasori looked around the room, but from what he saw, there wasn't anything to clean. The other's possessions comprised of a mini fridge, a microwave, a sofa, and from what he could see: enough dishware for one person. One glance at the boy told him that he was extremely nervous, so he decided not to ask about the blond's previous behavior._

_"Where can I go to the bathroom?" he inquired more out of curiosity about whether the blond had a bathroom, than need to go._

_"Oh, the door right there," the boy pointed to a door that Sasori had overlooked completely, mostly because it was painted the same color as the wall._

_The redhead nodded before walking over to the couch and sitting down._

_"Uh, didn't you need to use the bathroom?"_

_Sasori watch as the blond shifted from foot to foot nervously, not knowing what to do._

_"No, I just wanted to know if you had a bathroom up here or whether I would have to go downstairs to find one." He responded coolly, not really thinking about it._

_"Oh, of course," Deidara bit his lip harshly and failed to hide the mortified blush that covered his face and his ears. He would never admit it, but the comment hurt. Normally he'd start yelling about rich, bastards who don't know the meaning of hard work or poverty. However, for some reason hearing the comment from Sasori affected him differently. _Maybe because I never pegged him to be a judgmental bastard _thought Deidara, _un, that's it, I was just surprised. _He also insisted that he just didn't want to fight the other boy when they were going to be spending a lot of unwilling time together._

_Sasori immediately cursed himself internally; he was really bad at socializing. He always spoke his mind, but it had never mattered before. Standing up, he walked over to the nervous boy. He placed his hand on the boy's cheek and used his thumb to pull the boy's lip from between his teeth. Seeing that the other had frozen upon contact, Sasori decided to try to push his luck, if only to make the blond forget his earlier comment. He stepped closer and brought his other hand up and ran his fingers through the blond's ponytail. He was careful to avoid brushing away the hair covering his face; the blond's eyes had bordered on panic when his first hand had landed on his cheek._

_"Relax," he coaxed, or he tried, he thought he sounded horrible__**. **__Butthe blond must have disagreed,because his shoulders relaxed immediately. "I wasn't trying to insult you, I a-apologize, I meant no harm." The stutter was almost completely unnoticeable, but Sasori knew, mainly because, he never apologized; however, at this moment, it was necessary. Actually, this was the second time the boy in front of him had made him apologize._

_"Come on, it's late, you need to sleep." He pulled the blond over to the couch and arranged it so the other boy's head was on his lap._

_"This is kind of uncomfortable, un." The blond tried to get up from where Sasori had forced him, but stopped when the redhead glared at him. He plopped back down with a sigh, his face practically buried in the redhead's stomach._

_"Um, how are you going to sleep?"_

_"I'll be fine, I can sleep anywhere."_

_"This is a pull out couch, we could both spread out…" the blond trailed off when the only answer was the redhead's hand combing through his hair._

_Sasori smirked after contemplating the blond's statement. He leaned down until his lips caressed the blond's ear, "But then I wouldn't get to hold you like this."_

_Before he could even blink, his head flung backward from Deidara slamming his hand in his face. How had he not seen that coming? By the time the dancing stars disappeared from his vision he realized the blond had disappeared from his lap and ran into the bathroom. "I'll be right back! And when I am, we are pulling out the bed!"_

_Sasori chuckled, this evening was turning out to be just a little bit entertaining._

XxXxXxX

_It wasn't until later that Sasori received an even bigger surprise. Deidara had fallen asleep surprisingly fast despite Sasori's teasing and his own nerves. Sasori decided to explore his newfound surroundings. He slipped quietly from the bed without waking his bedmate –a miracle considering how much motion traveled across the spring loaded mattress. He walked the room slowly, taking all of 30 seconds before he came full circle. It was hard to really see anything since the ceiling light did not work. As he walked, he pulled the fridge open to see a mall carton of milk, one you find in a school cafeteria, and a few eggs packed neatly in the door._

_Once he finished his quick surveillance, he moved toward the bathroom only to stop when he stepped on something. Taking a step back and looking down, he saw what looked to be a wrapper. Not being able to see very well in the dark he reached down to pick it up. His eyebrows rose in surprise when he found himself starring at a rather delicate looking paper flower. _Well, this could get very interesting very soon,_ he thought._

_He looked around to see where it came from, but there was absolutely nowhere in the room the boy could have hid it, or more. Without really thinking about it, he looked up and was immediately met with the useless, bowl shaped, glass light fixture. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open so that light illuminated the area. He held it above his head toward the glass so the light bounced off of it, and low and behold, he could see many small shadows reflected on the ceiling._

_Now, he did not want to try and undo the light fixture for fear he would break it, and wake up the sleeping boy, so instead he carefully pulled apart the flower he held only to find the inside was dusted with a light blue powder and a silver wire lay curled up and ready to be used. It confirmed his theory much more easily than actually climbing up and looking in the light. Folding it back up, he put it neatly in his pocket before striding back over to the sofa bed._

_"We'll just keep this between us, hn?" he whispered to the slumbering blond before laying quietly down next to him. As a last minute idea before falling into the deepest sleep of his life, he scooted over and positioned himself so that he was spooning the blond next to him._

_Needless to say, when the blond woke up to find himself cocooned between sheets and pale arms, he had freaked out. Even worse, Sasori is a heavy sleeper. The blond had spent fifteen minutes hitting the redhead with a pillow while using rather colorful vocabulary that Sasori thought could rival Hidan. Yet, the boy never relented in his sleeping or his cuddling. It wasn't until 6 AM on the dot that Sasori's eyes snapped open as if triggered by an internal alarm._

_By that time Deidara had managed to wiggle himself into a sitting position, but had only managed to make Sasori's grip on his waist tighten. Deidara had pushed many basic pressure points in an attempt relax the other's grip, hell; he had even tried massaging Sasori's shoulders! But the redhead just did not respond._

_However, when Sasori did wake up he simply sat up, stretched, and upon seeing the blond's aggravated glare, reached for the blond's hand and kissed it before walking towards the bathroom. The blond took it fairly well in Sasori's opinion. Numerous crashes and cussing followed, which is how Sasori learned of the blond's vocabulary. He only wondered what had made all the noise as there wasn't much to throw around to begin with._

XxXxXxX

And now here they were, walking to school together in silence. Sure, the blond kept sneaking glances and blushing (as if Sasori was not aware of this), but still, in silence. This gave Sasori plenty of time to contemplate his next move. Like pieces on a shogi, he must move carefully. One wrong move would leave him unable to backtrack and all his efforts leading up to this point would be for naught.

As they approached the school it was evident that they were very close to being late. Students were rushing inside as the first bell rang, warning them to start heading to classes.

"Come on, I hate being late," Sasori picked up his speed marginally, leaving Deidara standing there stunned.

Deidara sputtered, "Wh- you- As if _I_ want to be late? And what makes your preferences so special, Sasori-danna?" He rushed to catch up to the stoic boy.

"Simple," responded Sasori, "I am willing to voice my opinions, and in return others respond according to my will. That's just how it's always been."

Deidara stopped in surprise while Sasori continued his journey to the classroom, Deidara watching in a stunned silence. He hadn't expected Sasori to answer his question, and he certainly hadn't expected that to be his answer. _Why that stuck up- BASTARD! Who does he think- Oh! Shit! The bell! I'm late!_

"Wait for me!"

Deidara sprinted the last couple meters to the classroom door only to slam into the rock hard chest of a certain redhead. Deidara growled, "What are you doing? Why are you just standing there?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow at the blond. _He can't be that stupid can he? One second thought…_ "Did you not just ask me to wait for you?"

Deidara stared in surprise, mouth slightly open in shock. He came out of his stupor when the smirking redhead closed his mouth with a slight tap to his chin. Quickly trying to make himself look less stupid, Deidara simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I- I didn't expect you to actually wait!" At Sasori's raised eyebrow he continued. "Don't give me that look! Don't you always say you hate waiting?"

"I'll let you in on a little secret." Sasori glanced around the hallway before pulling the blond forward by the back of his neck until his lips touched Deidara's left ear. "You are an exception."

Deidara shivered and was extremely thankful for the locks of blond hair that cascaded in front of his face at the moment because he could tell he was fire-engine red. By the time he had calmed himself, Sasori had disappeared into the classroom. _What was that supposed to mean? I'm the exception? He's so confusing… and what was with all the cuddling last night? And then the touching… and the kiss and the breathing in my ear and on my neck… and- and-…_ He sighed_. Calm yourself._ _He's just doing all of this to get a rise out of you, Dei, do not let him get to you. Just go in there and act as calm and condescending as- _Ding. Ding. _Shit! I'm late!_

He quickly scurried into the classroom before he made his favorite teacher any angrier.

XxXxXxX

Deidara sighed in relief when he finally finished stepped out of Home Economics. It was officially lunch time. As he rounded the corner in the hallway he came face to face with Sasori. _Why does it feel like my life revolves around him now?_

"Perfect," drawled Sasori, "I didn't have to hunt you down."

Deidara arched an eyebrow, "Where you looking for me for some reason?"

"Yes, I wanted to make sure you didn't hide during lunch."

"Why would I hide? I'm hungry," enquired Deidara.

"I thought you might not want to sit with the rest of Akatsuki. I am aware of your distaste towards them" Sasori shrugged.

"Wait," Deidara stopped, in turn making Sasori stop and look back at him questioningly. "Why would I be sitting with Akatsuki at lunch?"

"Because I sit with Akatsuki?" Sasori questioned back.

"That explains nothing!" growls Deidara, "Why would I be sitting with you?"

Sasori frowned before turning around completely so that he was completely facing the blond. "Because."

"Because what?" yelled Deidara, "You are not making any sense!"

The two of them glared at each other while Sasori's frown deepened. Sasori was the first to look away. His gaze turned to the side while he contemplated what he should say. Years of social standards that he hadn't used in years swam in his head. Finally when he decided how he should approach the situation he looked back into Deidara's eyes making sure not to falter.

"Because that's what friends do."

Deidara's eyes opened marginally wider as he stared at the other boy in shock. Sasori was looking at him with a perfect, emotionless mask. He almost couldn't comprehend what just came out of the other's mouth. Had he really just said that?

Sasori's brows furrowed in annoyance and slight embarrassment, not that he'd admit to it. Here he was, speaking about friendship and the brat didn't even respond! _After all the effort I've put into this, does he seriously still see me as the enemy?_ Without even think Sasori growled, "We are friends, aren't we?"

These words made both of them tense up, Sasori in horror and shock and Deidara in just shock.

"Never mind," Sasori spat quickly and quietly before turning away to walk briskly down the hall.

"W-wait!"

Shock quickly changed to guilt when Deidara saw the look on Sasori's face, though he couldn't quite place the emotions- there were too many of them - he did feel bad and quickly moved to remedy whatever it was that he had done wrong. He still didn't know how he became the guilty party, either!

Either way, he grabbed Sasori by the arm before he could get very far.

Sasori tensed at the contact and moved to break the bone of the one holding him, but stopped himself when he saw Deidara's blue eye not four inches from his face.

"I'm- Yes- I mean… yes, we are… f-friends," choked out Deidara. He could barely believe what he was saying.

Sasori frowned, "Don't force yourself on my account. I hate liars. Go eat lunch with your… friends."

Sasori tried to pull himself away. When he agreed to gain the blond's trust he didn't realize he was going to be humiliating himself! He was going to tell Itachi that he was out, he just couldn't do this. Socializing was not his thing.

"Hey!" Deidara refused to let go. "I'm not lying! I was just surprised! And why do I have to sit with you? Why can't you sit at my table?" Deidara sighed. He never expected to be having this argument.

Sasori paused in his escape. Seeing where this conversation was going he immediately slipped back into strategic planning.

"Sasori?"

Saved by Itachi… for once. Sasori turned to look at the tall, calm figure that was standing behind him.

"… I don't want to know" sighed Itachi, as if he wasn't mentally doing backflips at seeing Sasori, practically grappling with the blond while looking completely and utterly… _emotional_. _Oh, if only I had a camera…_ "Are you coming? I wanted to discuss my party plans with everyone, but we can't do it if you're not there." Itachi tapped his foot impatiently.

Sasori smirked, which only Itachi could see, making said raven very confused.

Dropping the smirk quickly and replacing his emotionless mask, he turned back to the frozen blond. "This is why I cannot sit at your table." Said Sasori calmly, "However, I might be willing to sit there tomorrow once you have accompanied me to mine for today."

"I-uh" Deidara was floundering, and with Itachi staring at him he was really freaking out! "Do I have a choice?"

"No." Sasori smirked.

Deidara nibbled on his lower lip. He, in no way whatsoever, wanted to sit at Akatsuki's table. Sasori he could handle, but the tables were round, which meant he would have to sit next to someone else as well. But he couldn't just refuse! First, he hadn't liked Sasori's reaction to him saying 'no' the first time, and second, he could _not _start an argument with Itachi there. He was trying to lay low! _Though sitting at their table certainly doesn't seem like lying low… _Maybe if he was lucky, Tobi would come rescue him.

Deidara sighed in defeat.

Sasori, seeing the hesitance on the blond's face decided to have some fun. He glided back over to the other boy. "Look," he began quietly, gently wrapping an arm around the blond's waist, "We only need to sit there while Itachi explains his party. Afterward we can leave." Of course, he had no intention whatsoever of letting Deidara leave before Itachi had taken full advantage of the current situation. However, he wanted Deidara to think he was on his side in order to hasten the bond he was weaving between them.

"Okay?" Deidara said, but his face had quickly turned bright red and he wasn't sure if he wanted to push the redhead away or pull him closer. He was getting really confused! Was Sasori _trying_ to flirt with him? Or did he just not understand the meaning of a personal space? Sasori smirked mentally at his success before leading Deidara into the lunch room using the arm that still rested against the small of the blond's back.

To say the lunch room went into an uproar at the uncharacteristically, affectionate display would be an understatement.

Itachi had noticed first of course, but had decided not to say anything. Who was he to pass up the chance to see Sasori acting so... _friendly? _Whether it was fake or not it was still a once in a lifetime display. He was also curious as to the route Sasori was taking to gain the blond's trust. He seemed to be going for a romantic approach, which confused Itachi greatly. Romance involved much more physical contact than friendship and would actually take effort to maintain even _after _Sasori had passed the torch onto Itachi, so to speak. After all, if he dumped the blond right after Itachi or one of the other members managed to befriend him it might seem suspicious. _I must have a little _chat _with Sasori about his methods._

As they approached the table, the others jaws dropped at what they were seeing.

"I knew it!" Kisame stood abruptly from his seat almost tipping the table forward. "You can't deny it, Itachi! Just look at them! Clearly my theory isn't as idiotic as you thought!" Kisame gestured roughly at the artists walking hand on waist.

"Kisame," Itachi sighed, "Please stop being a complete idiot. Now, scoot over so that we can make room; we have a guest joining today." Itachi paused, "Though he might not be a 'guest' for much longer..." Itachi pointedly stared at the arm around Deidara's waist, making the blond fidget nervously. This caused Sasori to unconsciously tighten his grip, which in turn seemed to comfort the blond.

Itachi sat down next to Kisame figuring that the man's personality might scare the blond away. He made sure to invade Kisame's personal space in order to leave plenty of elbow room for the blond.

Deidara hesitated now that it was their turn to sit down. The only space available was between Pein and Itachi. He was startled when Sasori whispered in his ear, "Choose whichever seat you prefer. I will sit next to whomever makes you less comfortable."

Not wanting to stand there awkwardly Deidara quickly placed his stuff in the area closer to Itachi. _Better the devil you know than the one you don't. _He knew nothing about Pein and even though Itachi had spoken maybe two sentences this year to him, at least he had Tobi.

"I'm, uh, going to go buy lunch, un..." Deidara walked quickly towards one of the many lines in the room, hoping to buy himself a few minutes to put a lid on his nerves. Screw the fact that he didn't have any money to buy lunch...

"So Sasori, you've taken your role quite seriously, it seems," commented Itachi.

Sasori raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"With blondie," informed Itachi, "I never saw you as one to take the romantic approach. I would have thought you'd just drag his ass to lunch with you every day until he eventually just let his guard down. I even heard you two walked to school together. Do tell..." Itachi clasped his hands together and leaned his chin on them; most inquisitive.

Sasori scowled, "It's hardly romantic; I am simply enjoying teasing him since I have to put up with him anyway." Sasori shrugged. "Besides, it's allowed me to get closer to him much more quickly than I originally thought. And that means I can be rid of him sooner.

"Sasori" Itachi said seriously. He fixed Sasori with a stern stare. "If you have a genuine interest in the blond then you need to stake your claim. You know that we draw the lines at messing with each other, and in turn each other's interests..." Now this is not to say Itachi didn't _want_ to play with the little blond, but he could also entertain himself simply by watching all the emotions that played across Sasori's face when around the blond. Also, he could always find a new play toy.

"Yes," agreed Pein, "I agree, you know we would never harm anything you value. Despite your loner preferences we are your friends. If you want him, tell us."

Zabuza just 'hmmed' in agreement.

Sasori scowl deepened. "The last thing I want is a _boyfriend!_" He practically spat the word. "I just want to be alone!" He growled. "Now I suggest you start working on getting him to like you while I've convinced him to sit with us because all this socializing is starting to piss me off!" he snarled.

"Very well," sighed Itachi, "I think I will do just that." He stood smoothly, climbing out of his seat with a grace that could be compared to royalty.

"Where are you going?" demanded Sasori.

"Why, to make a new friend." Itachi smirked. Sasori frowned; he hated it when Itachi made that face. He actually had to fight the urge to stand up and give chase, but that would be ridiculous. He wanted Itachi to get closer to Deidara, that was the point of all this. Right?

XxXxXxX

Deidara sighed as he followed the crowd through the line. _Maybe this was a bad idea... yup, a really bad idea. _The only times he really ate at school was when the government paid for it or one of his friends bought him food. The fact of the matter was, KHS had an above-normal menu, so his school lunch budget was only going to last him the year if he only ate a few days a week. Now he was walking through the line hungry and unable to do anything other than look at all the yummy looking food.

"Not hungry?"

Deidara almost jumped out of his skin at the voice that came from beside him.

"Kami, don't do that!" he gasped, turning only to see Itachi standing next to him. He looked and noticed that Itachi had an empty tray in his hand, which was weird. Tobi had told him that his cousin hated eating school food, no matter how 'scrumptious' it was. He started squirming when he realized Itachi was just standing there staring at him. "Um, are you going to put anything on that tray?" he asked, simply to start a conversation.

"Actually, I was hoping you would pick some things out. I've never eaten here so I thought maybe you could tell me what to avoid and what is adequate." Itachi held out the tray, and Deidara just took it without really thinking. "Don't worry about putting too many foods on the tray; expense is not a problem." Itachi stated. Deidara raised an eyebrow as Itachi stood there with his arms crossed looking at him expectantly. Finally, not wanting to be on Itachi's bad side, he huffed and set to work.

He grumbled as he went, and Itachi's eyes lit up with amusement.

"Stupid bastards... think everyone's their slaves... just do what they say... ass," Deidara started heaping on everything that had caught his eye before: sushi, a sandwich, a slice of pizza –pepperoni because they put way too much cheese on the cheese pizza - milk, a soda, an apple, a small salad. He couldn't help but wonder a little vindictively if he could put a dent in Itachi's wallet. _Probably not._

"Did you say something?" Asked Itachi.

Deidara flushed; he hadn't realized he was still grumbling. "N-no."

Itachi just smirked and pretended like he didn't hear everything the blond had just said.

Once they got to the register the lunch lady looked at Deidara incredulously.

"Young man, do you really need all that food? It looks like you're going to blow through your small government supplement before the third week even ends." She fixed him with a disapproving gaze.

"Hey, don't look at me! I'm just carrying it!" Deidara raised his hands trying to placate the lady, and trying not to flush in embarrassment at the topic being discussed in front of none other than Itachi Uchiha.

"Will this cover it, madam?" Itachi was quick to step in and redirect the conversation. The last thing he wanted was Deidara to feel uncomfortable. The lunch lady blushed at the charming demeanor Itachi was emanating. Deidara scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on Deidara!" Itachi grabbed Deidara by the elbow after making sure the blond had secured the tray and began to guide him away from the line.

"Uchiha-san! Your change!" the lunch lady called.

"Add it to Iwa-san's tab please!" Itachi called over his shoulder.

"Wait, what? I don't need your pity!" growled Deidara, ears and face turning red in anger. He had it in his mind to dump the tray of food over the other's head –and he would have – but when he tried to pull away the Uchiha kept a firm hold on him.

Itachi paused while they were still far enough from the table and pulled Deidara close enough so that only he could hear him.

"I do not pity you," stated Itachi, thinking quickly. This caused Deidara to frown. "In case you haven't noticed, Sasori does not like people, he rarely even talks to us. But he likes you. And if he likes you, then we are very ready to accept you into our group, no questions asked." Itachi continued before Deidara could interrupt him. "Me adding money to your account was an act of truce and an attempt to get you to somewhat relax around us. Though it appears I did not take into consideration your personality. However, I will tell you, that was me acting like I would with any other friend if they needed lunch money," – lie, complete and utter lie, Itachi never had any friends who did not have money - "But besides that, Sasori has never made an effort to know someone. But he did with you. You're special, and I would even be willing to believe that he likes you as more than a friend. I even bet he will glare at me if we go back to the table together and I continue to hold your arm." With that Itachi renewed his grip on the blonde's elbow and all but dragged him toward the table. No need to allow the boy to ask questions.

Itachi was beginning to think he should look into being an actor because despite the complete and utter bullshit he just spouted, he was pretty sure the blond bought it. Not that anything he said was a lie, not necessarily anyway. If Sasori truly did like the blond, and eventually admitted it to himself, then everything Itachi had just said would become true. However, until that day, it was still one big lie. Also, by planting romantic thoughts into Deidara's head he was leaving an opening for Sasori to swoop in and solidify the deal; if the redhead had not already planted the thoughts in the blond's head that is. He glanced at the blond's face only to smirk at the stuttering, blushing mess his last comment had turned the blond into.

XxXxXxX

Sasori looked up as Itachi returned, blond in tow, with that infuriating smirk on his face. God, he hated that smirk, and made him feel the need to glare in return, so he did. Screw the fact that he may be behaving slightly childishly.

"Your seat, Blondie." Itachi waved at the seat between him and Sasori with a playful flourish, making both Deidara blush harder and Sasori scowl hard. Deidara yanked his arm free of the grip still on his arm before huffing and dropping into the seat angrily.

Itachi then leaned in to whisper something in Deidara's ear, making him blush even harder before glancing at Sasori quickly and looking away.

This both confused and irritated Sasori. What the hell was Itachi telling him?

Deidara sat down, avoiding eye contact with everyone at the table before realizing he was still carrying Itachi's food, so he began to push it towards the raven before realizing that there was a neatly, wrapped package in front of the Uchiha's seat.

"Hey, I thought you didn't have lunch?" asked the blond.

"Hn, I never said the food was for me." Itachi shrugged.

Deidara flushed even more once he realized he had been played. "What!? There's no way I can eat all this!"

Itachi cocked his head, "then why did you buy it all?"

"I bought it all because I wanted to make you- ah, screw you, never mind!" Deidara sulked in his seat whilst staring at the mountain of food.

"Anyway, moving on" Itachi started, all business, "My party this weekend. Of course everyone will be there..." Itachi pointedly looked at Sasori who sighed. "Sasori?"

"You know I hate parties, particularly parties where you give Kisame alcohol. Why do I need to be there?" he complained.

"Hey-" Kisame started to complain before Itachi cut him off.

Itachi smirked, "Well, you can keep Deidara company this time. I'm sure he would love to come, right, Blondie?" Itachi turned a sickeningly sweet smile onto the unsuspecting blond. Deidara shivered when he saw the look he was being given.

"I- uh, rather n-" he stopped when Itachi's smile became pure evil. Itachi leaned in to whisper something in his ear, making the blond scowl and scoot closer to Sasori in hopes of some sort of protection. "Maybe?" he offered.

"Good," smirked Itachi, "Sasori can pick you up. Right, Sasori?"

"You'll pick me up even if I say no, so why fight it?" He sighed. Without really thinking about it, he ran his hand up Deidara's back quickly, ran his fingers briefly through blond locks before dropping his hand back to the boy's lower back. His hand subconsciously rubbed small circles into the small of his back.

Deidara felt a shiver run up his spine before he relaxed into the redhead's touch. No one could see his hand, and Deidara wondered if the redhead even realized what he was doing.

"Boo yah! Party time!" yelled Kisame.

"Hn" Itachi looked like the cat that got the cream- thoroughly satisfied.

"So what time are you planning on having this party, Itachi?" inquired Pein, entering the conversation for the first time.

Deidara glanced around the table having practically forgotten that the other three people were there to begin with.

"I'm thinking Saturday at 8:00," said Itachi thoughtfully.

Deidara fidgeted in his seat for a good ten minutes, unable to focus on anything, while the Akatsuki – minus Sasori who was totally ignoring them – were talking about official plans for Saturday.

"Why don't you eat?"

He jumped slightly when Sasori leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I don't want to eat something he bought me..." Deidara mumbled.

"If you eat the sushi and the sandwich we can leave early and go to the art room or something," Sasori bribed the blond, knowing that he must be hungry. He knew for a fact that the blond had not eaten this morning.

Almost within the blink of an eye the food was gone and the blond was detangling himself from his seat and Sasori's hand, which was still on his back.

"Let's go danna! The art room awaits! Un!"

Sasori stood much more calmly, only to be practically yanked off of his feet as the blond dragged him out of the lunch room and into the hallway.

Deidara rushed as quickly as he could. He just _had _to get away from them, particularly Itachi. _And where the _hell _was Tobi? The one time I wouldn't mind him pouncing on me and he doesn't show! Some friend he- _Deidara's train of thought was cut off as he was pulled to an abrupt halt by Sasori.

"I do _not _like being handled in such a manner," the redhead growled, "I am not a ragdoll."

"Ah, sorry," Deidara grinned sheepishly, he also noticed that he had almost dragged them completely past the art room.

Starring at the disgruntled redhead who was still holding his arm, he blushed when he remembered the whispered words Itachi had bestowed upon him at the lunch table not 10 minutes before. He quickly pulled his arm free of Sasori's, attempting to keep his heart from beating too fast.

Sasori frowned at the blond's reaction.

"Let's, um, get inside, un?" Deidara laughed uneasily, "You know, lots of art to be created..." He shuffled quickly into the small room followed closely by an unhappy Sasori.

Seeing that Haku-sensei was not in the room, Sasori quickly decided on a plan of action. He was not going to put up with this weird behavior, it was bad enough he had to be around the blond to begin with! Closing the door behind him, he reached for the back of Deidara's shirt and pulled him roughly so that he ended up pressed up against the door with Sasori's hands on either side of his head.

"What's the big deal, un?" Deidara demanded, putting as much anger in the sentence as he could to hide his increasingly flustered state of mind. He tried to shove the redhead away, but Sasori didn't budge at all.

"What did Itachi tell you?" Sasori demanded.

"I don't know what you're-" Deidara flinched when Sasori lightly smashed his hand against the door beside his head. Nothing damaging, but enough to show he meant business.

"I'm not playing these mind games." Sasori growled, "You will tell me everything Itachi said to you at lunch. While you weren't at the table, what he whispered in your ear at the table, and which one these things is making you act weird."

Deidara bit his lower lip nervously. He wasn't one to be pushed around, but the look on Sasori's face was very... intimidating. And he already knew he wouldn't be able to force himself free. He didn't know _how_ to handle the situation to be honest. He figured whatever friendship he and the redhead had was shaky as it was, but to bring up the subject Itachi had mentioned. He didn't even know if he wanted the redhead to like him! And what if he did, but the other boy felt nothing of what Itachi spoke of! But if he insisted on saying nothing...

Sasori scowled before leaning in closer, "Tell me, or are you and Itachi suddenly best friends?" He demanded.

"No!" Deidara cried out, "I hate the bastard! I didn't even want to eat the food he gave me! Besides, he didn't exactly tell me to keep it a secret!"

This only made Sasori frown more, "Then. _Tell._ Me," he pushed out between grit teeth.

"Why? It's not like I owe you an explanation! It's not like we're 'best friends'! I didn't even know we were friends until today!" _Shit. _Deidara gulped, body frozen as he watched the redhead's face go from angry to icy in the blink of an eye. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit!

Sasori's mind was whirling with the information he had just received. How had it ended up like this? All his progress, gone! He had offered the blond friendship - fake friendship, but he didn't know that! - and he just had it thrown back in his face. He kept trying to think over everything that happened, where had he gone wrong? Sure he wasn't very social, and didn't really know how to handle certain situations, but he thought he had secured the blond's friendship. Hell, the blond had sat with him and his much hated friends, did that not scream friendship? Apparently not, he even admitted to not thinking of them as friends until this very day. Did the blond even know what he had just passed over? He was the first person Sasori had ever offered the hand of friendship to... fake friendship, but again, he didn't know that. Unless Itachi... no, this whole plan was Itachi's doing from the beginning, he wouldn't sabotage it. So that must mean that Sasori had gone wrong somewhere in this complicated social game.

Deidara fidgeted whilst watching the icy brown gaze stare at him, but without actually staring at him. He noticed one of the hands by his face absently fiddling with the ring the Deidara had given him. Then, more movement caught his attention. Sasori slowly pulled away from the frightened blond, hands returning to his sides in a calm manner. But that gaze, Deidara did not like that gaze. He would prefer any other look! Even the annoyed one!

Sasori had decided on a strategic retreat. Clearly he had lost his little game, but since the blond didn't know anything he could make a shameless surrender without humiliating himself. All he had to do was be himself and pretend he did not care. Only one thing needed to be done officially end this...

"I must have misread your actions. My mistake," he said calmly before holding out his hand.

Deidara's visible eye widened when he saw the object in Sasori's hand: the ring he had given him.

"Sasori, I-," he tried, but couldn't seem to form his thoughts into a sentence. So he settled for, "It was a gift."

"I no longer want it," the redhead placed the ring in Deidara's jacket pocket when he didn't take it, "The only reason I didn't just throw it away is because I have respect for works of art, and I know it was the first part of your portfolio for our art class." With that the redhead turned and headed for the bench against the far wall to retrieve his current project.

Deidara felt cold, worse than he could have imagined feeling. His hands came up to cover his face, as he wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration. This is not what he meant to happen!

~_Sasori does not like people; he rarely even talks to us. But he likes you... You're special, and I would even be willing to believe that he likes you as more than a friend... Do come to the party, I think Sasori would love for you to go, whether he would admit to it or not, and I would really like for my friend to come to my birthday party...~_

Seeing Sasori walking away from him was surprisingly very gut-wrenching for Deidara, but he could stop it, he just had to...

"He said you liked me! He said you like me as more than a friend!" he all but screamed, and he couldn't stop himself from saying more; anything to make that icy gaze disappear... "OK? He said you liked me as more than a friend! And I didn't want to tell you and make things weird! But it doesn't matter because even without you knowing I couldn't stop thinking about what he said! And thinking about everything you've ever said or done around me and trying to find connections!"

By the end of the first exclamation Sasori had turned to look at the blond with a stunned look on his face. He was floored. _That _was what Itachi had told him? Really? And watching the blond in his little frenzy made him contemplate where to go from there. Itachi had given him an opening... whether he should take it or not was unclear to him. But the bigger the risk, the higher chance of a favorable outcome... Coming to a decision he slowly approached the blond who he was slowly having a mental breakdown.

"-And then there was last night, and the puppet you gave me. But you're _you! _I've only been at this school a few weeks and I know for a fact that you even talking to me is like the fuckin' _apocalypse! _You were a bastard the first day we met! A demanding, conceited bastard! I don't even know how it came to this- and I normally hate people like you- I can't even imagine... I just, I..." he was speechless and breathless as he stared at Sasori who was now standing inches in front of him; warm, brown eyes smoldering with a look he couldn't even describe. "Why are you looking at me like that?" growled Deidara. He needed to understand, he didn't even know how all of this had happened. First Sasori was stalking him, and forcing himself into his apartment, and now... this?

Sasori let the silence linger for a few more seconds before he leaned forward.

"Would it be so bad if I did like you? If I liked you as more than a friend?" he asked quietly.

Deidara shuddered. Nobody should have a voice that deep, that smooth, that sinful- He breathed deeply, trying to collect his thoughts, but it was hard to do with those eyes staring at him!

"I-"

Sasori watched and could practically see the blond's brain working in overdrive to come up with an answer. As if his mind could not even compute what he had said, which honestly, was entirely possible. But he waited - for once** -** patiently. This was not something he could pressure.

After looking like he was about to start hyperventilating, Deidara took a deep breath, "...no," he breathed out.

When Sasori continued to stare and made no move to respond, he continued.

"No, it wouldn't... it wouldn't be a bad thing." His shoulders slumped as the tension in his muscles was released. What more could he say?

Sasori gave a small smile, not a smirk, but a smile.

"Good," the world was mumbled against tan lips before he pressed forward, pushing the shocked blond back against the door with the force of his kiss.

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><p><strong>Have you guys missed this?<strong>

**Hope you liked it!**

**~ DeviousDevil D**


	6. Like

**A/N~ Yes, it has been a while. No excuses, life is life. Though I am sure I mentioned previously that I would not be updating regularly. Sorry this is shorter, but it was this or an even longer wait, and I'm sure after that cliff hanger you all are dying to know what happened!**

**Beta: CantHelpThisSmile**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Enjoy~**

**DeviousDevil ;D**

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Lips melded and teeth clacked. His chest was heaving in an attempt to maintain oxygen intake. Deidara didn't know what to think. His mind was a torrent of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. All he knew was he was drowning and wasn't even trying to fight it. He wasn't even sure he _wanted _to fight it!

Sasori had him wedged firmly against the wall so that his feet barely grazed the ground, hands on his hips, and lips on his. It was messy. At least he felt like it was messy, but he had never kissed anyone before. He almost liked it more because of the uncoordinated, clumsiness. His arms wrapped tightly around Sasori's shoulders and he resisted the urge to wrap his legs around his waist.

Sasori had only a slightly more coherent train of thought. He had never kissed anyone either, but he found he liked it. Normally he hated physical contact, but this wasn't so bad. Though in the back of his mind he wondered if Deidara felt the same. He was really just winging it. If the small whimper that came from the blond's lips when he first kissed him was anything to go by, then he must be doing pretty well.

However, do to inexperience on both parts, it could not last long. Neither knew how to breathe properly. Sasori decided it felt awkward having Deidara's feet practically dangling in the air, so he broke the kiss in order to grab the blond under his knees and yank them up around his waist roughly, making Deidara yelp in the process. Due to the kiss being broken, both quickly realized just how out of breath they were, so instead of delving back into a kiss Sasori simply buried his face into the crook of Deidara's neck and rested both of their weight against the wall.

Deidara wiggled his hips a little bit, trying to get Sasori's attention without speaking, before realizing just why that was a horrible idea. He also realized quickly that Sasori had no intention of moving for a while. He could feel Sasori's breath on his neck and could not keep the blood from rushing to his face at the thought of just where their bodies were pressing together.

"Um...," blood was quickly rushing to his face and he was glad he could hide behind his hair. Now that he was free to think, everything was rushing back to him. He shuddered at the feeling of soft lips pressing gently on his throat before sighing and relaxing completely in Sasori's firm grip, his fingers reaching up to tangle gently in red hair. "What does all of this mean?" he all but begged.

Lips moved from his neck to his ear for a gentle kiss before he heard a whispered, "What do you want it to mean?"

Deidara sighed exasperated before tucking his head into Sasori's shoulder so that he was now completely clinging to the boy. "I asked you first," he growled.

"And I answered," Sasori replied promptly, one hand firmly gripping the blond's butt, supporting his weight between the wall and his body, while his oter hand's fingers carded gently through blond hair. "It can mean whatever you want it to mean."

"What do _you _want it to mean?" retorted Deidara.

Sasori sighed before gently maneuvering the other into supporting himself once more. However, even after his feet where on the ground Deidara refused to lift his head from the redhead's shoulder. Sensing his embarrassment after their little make out session, Sasori allowed him to continue hiding his face in his shirt. He gently placed his hands on the other's hips and gave them a small squeeze. "I have always believed actions speak louder than words..." he began slowly, trying to make sure he didn't say the wrong thing, "However, since my_actions_don't seem to be answering your question..." Deidara squirmed slightly at his words, but Sasori just held him more firmly to his chest, "I would like for us to be something..._more._However, I am content with just being friends."

Deidara gripped Sasori's shirt tightly in his hands while listening to the other speak. When it seemed like the other had said all he was going to, he decided it was his turn.

"How long- er, when did you start liking me?" he asked a bit uncertainly, "We've only really know each other for a week, if that!" But oh what a week it'd been...

"I can't really answer that," Sasori responded calmly, having already expected the question. He decided part truths would be easier to explain than lies. "I didn't realize I liked you until you started rambling about me liking you."

"What! But-" Deidara pulled back at this, starring at the redhead wide-eyed, "You mean-!"

Sasori smirked, having also expected this type of reaction. He reached up to cup the side of Deidara's face, placing his thumb over his mouth to keep him from speaking.

"I probably started liking you days ago, when exactly I cannot say. I am not a people person, and because of this I often cannot decipher my own thoughts or feelings when concerning others. Though, looking back I probably should have realized something when I felt the need to hunt you down at your job to convince you to make those rings. Normally, I wouldn't care what my friends do to others, but for some reason I did. I probably never would have realized the depth of what I felt had Itachi not noticed and said something to you."

"So I... by talking I..." Deidara struggled to grasp what he had just heard.

"Yes, you basically just told me my own feelings for you," chuckled Sasori.

Deidara put his face in his hands and groaned in embarrassment.

"But because I didn't realize my feelings until now, I have not had time to hope for anything more than friendship, which is why you should tell me what _you _want it to mean." Sasori continued calmly, "It doesn't have to be right this moment, but today or tomorrow would be best." He made sure he gave the blond an out. He hadn't officially planned to use romantic feeling to gain the blond's trust, but now that Itachi had decided to add his own little twist, he had to be careful. He had to make it known that he was open to a relationship if that is what Deidara wanted, but he also had to give him the friend zone option. He didn't want to freak the blond out and push him away. After all the effort he had put into this he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize all his work, no matter how tedious said work had been.

Deidara spared Sasori a glance before looking away. He wasn't sure how to feel about the situation, he was freaking out before and now that pressure was back! He didn't know what to do! He had never looked at Sasori as a romantic interest, he hadn't even realized the redhead saw him as a friend!_This is all that Itachi-bastard's fault. If he had never said anything... Grrrrr._

Sasori's eyes narrowed as a watched the other boy with a calculating gaze. He hoped that no matter what happened, he wasn't going to go back to square one.

Deidara looked back to the other boy with his own calculating gaze. He didn't know how he felt for the redhead, but looking back on that kiss he couldn't help but blush.

"Kiss me."

Sasori flinched in surprise at this. "What?"

"I don't know how I feel, so I want to test something._Kiss me,_" he pushed.

Sasori stepped forward cautiously, as if the blond was going to rip his head off if he moved too quickly. Slowly, he leaned forward, Deidara's arms wrapping around his shoulders, and pressed their lips together gently. He kept it simple with no tongue, but he did gently nibble on the other boy's lower lip.

Deidara shivered at the gentle kiss, his heart racing a mile a minute._Is this what it's supposed to feel like?_ However, it just wasn't enough.

Sasori was a little surprised when the blond surged forward slightly and swiped his lips with his tongue before pulling back. Sasori never had a chance to respond as Deidara let go of his shirt and stepped back.

"Well shit," chuckled Deidara breathlessly, "Now how am I supposed to get out of going to that bastard's party?"

Sasori's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Deidara laughed at the perplexed look on Sasori's face before reaching forward and gripping the collar of said redhead's shirt and pulling him into a spontaneous kiss.

Sasori barely had time to take in what was happening before Deidara pulled back once more. Now he felt even more confused and out of control of the situation, and he hated feeling out of control.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you to fend for yourself at Itachi's party?" Deidara smiled wryly, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, and Sasori could see it.

Sasori smirked in understanding. "Well," he reached out to grab Deidara's shirt and pull him close, "I'll be there, so it can't be all bad."

"We'll see," laughed Deidara, lacing his fingers through the hand that pulled him closer. "I may just have to call in a favor though..."

Sasori quirked an eyebrow curiously, but he could tell from the look in his eyes that Deidara wasn't going to tell him.

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Deidara was focused intently on the project in front of him. The black leather cord that he had been working on before was now being put to use. He had been working on it for a couple of hours. But it was really difficult attaching the metal rings he had to the leather without burning the leather with his soldering gun. He had three sterling silver circles that had once been rings. The rings had been kept in the shop for so long that Kurenai decided they needed to be scrapped and offered them to him. He quickly asked for her help in melting them down and shaping them into thick silver circles. He had soldered holes into the sides of them so he could thread the cord through them, but he didn't want the cord showing in the hollow of the circle, so he had to solder the cord in place so that he could cut the excess cord out. He was so focused that he just barely took notice of someone entering the shop.

It was like Déjà vu when the bell above the door rang five minutes before the shop was supposed to close. He looked up only to meet black eyes coolly staring back at him.

"Sasuke!" Deidara was surprised, though not overly so; he had been trying to get a hold of the boy. He just hadn't expected him to walk into his work place.

"Deidara," Sasuke nodded in greeting, "My cousin said you wanted to speak to me. I'm assuming you want to cash in that favor? What do you need?"

"Yes," Deidara sighed in relief. He turned off his soldering gun quickly before giving Sasuke his undivided attention.

Sasuke strode up to the counter, hands in his pockets. "So... What do you need?" he repeated.

"Well," Deidara began, "You see... there's this party on Saturday..." he trailed off, unsure as to how to bring it up.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. "This wouldn't happen to be my brother's birthday party would it?"

"Well, yes, yes it is," admitted Deidara.

This got Sasuke's interest. "You're not going, are you?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, yes, yes I am," he replied. "Aren't you?" he asked nervously.

"No!" was Sasuke's sharp response, his body tensing slightly.

Deidara flinched in surprise. "Sorry..." he mumbled, not entirely sure what he was sorry for.

Sasuke relaxed at seeing the cautious look on the other's face. "Sorry," he sighed, "I don't have a good relationship with my brother. We haven't spoken, I mean really spoken, since our parents died." He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up slightly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I know that losing your parents is hard," murmured Deidara, his own feelings of sorrow rising within him.

Sasuke shrugged off his words, not really wanting to talk about it. "So what did you need me to do? And what does it have to do with my brother's party?" He inquired.

"Well," Deidara chewed his lip nervously, not sure whether or not this was a good idea anymore. However, he figured Sasuke wouldn't leave without hearing what he wanted first. He was a prideful person, after all. "I was hoping you could be my back up..."

Sasuke stared at him in confusion. "Back up?"

"Yeah, you see, I'm only going to the party to keep Sasori company, and I don't really trust any of his friends..." Deidara trailed off.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "How do you know Sasori?" he asked.

"Art class," was Deidara's first response, "Well, actually, that's how we met, and now... we are kind of, sort of... dating?"

Now it was Sasuke who was surprised. "Since... since when?" he couldn't stop himself from asking...

"Well, earlier today actually..." Deidara flushed, "But we've been... hanging out for maybe a week now?" He couldn't bring himself to say that it had only been about four days. And the first day they had only really argued..._How did we end up dating again?_

Now Sasuke looked amused. "And after dating for one day you decide to step into the lion's den for him? That's commitment. I won't even let Naruto come to my house unless I know for certain my brother won't be there."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "Is Naruto your boyfriend?"

"Yes," Sasuke took the opportunity to lean against the counter Deidara sat behind. "However, that's not important right now, though I will say that he loved the necklace you made."

"That's wonderful!"

"However, I'm not sure if I can help you..." Sasuke said thoughtfully.

"Why not?" inquired Deidara.

"Well, for one, I haven't wished my brother a happy birthday in five years, and haven't given him a gift in almost ten." shrugged Sasuke, "I'm not even sure I know how to be around him anymore, nevertheless celebrate his birthday..."

"Do you hate him that much?" asked Deidara softly, he could understand the guy being a jackass, but even his brother hating him? You would have to be downright evil!

Sasuke sighed, "It's not that I hate him," he answered softly, "He just... he changed. When the _accident _happened, he wasn't the same and we just steadily drifted apart. Now the only time he talks to me, he is either asking me about my report card or taunting me or talking about stealing Naruto from me... though if he tried I'd kill him with my bare hands."

"Well, I'm sure he's just joking about that last one," Deidara chuckled, trying to calm down the other boy, "Besides, from what I could tell in that picture, your brother would have to remove the 10 foot pole currently shoved up his ass to have even a remote chance with Naruto."

Sasuke stilled as he stared at Deidara for a few moments before he dropped his head to the counter; after a few moments his shoulders began visibly shaking. It took Deidara a second to realize he was laughing quietly.

"Naruto-," Sasuke chuckled, lifting his head to look at Deidara with mirth in his eyes, "That's exactly what Naruto says."

"Well, us blonds tend to think alike," Deidara smiled.

"So are you also going to tell me that it's not too late to remedy my relationship with my brother?" inquired the Uchiha, face resting on one hand. "Because that's what Naruto also says."

"Well," Deidara shrugged, "Do you _want _to fix the relationship you and your brother have?"

Sasuke fell silent, eyes falling to the counter in thought. It was minute before he finally answered. "I wouldn't be..._unhappy _if we could have what we used to have, but I don't want to try only to find it impossible."

"Well," Deidara said whimsically, "Start with his birthday. Even if you just wish him a happy birthday. It's a start."

Sasuke tapped his fingers on the counter thoughtfully. When it seemed like he wasn't going to speak up, Deidara became concerned.

"Something wrong?" he asked softly.

Sasuke sighed, which he seemed to be doing a lot of. "I don't know what to get him for his birthday."

Deidara smiled a Cheshire grin. "I think I can help you with that..."

Sasuke looked at him inquisitively before glancing down at the blond's hands.

Slim, tan fingers were playing with the black cord of an unfinished necklace.

"I should be able to have it done by Saturday," added Deidara, sliding the object closer so that the Uchiha could see it more clearly. "I was going to give it to him myself, but I'll make Sasori-Danna share his present with me. If he even gets him one!" Deidara pulled a sketch out of his pocket and laid it next to the unfinished necklace. "This is what it will look like."

Sasuke couldn't take his eyes from the object in front of him, but slowly a small smile drifted onto his face.

"It's perfect."

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**I tried to describe the necklace Itachi wears. Hope everyone got it.**

**Until Next Time! ~ ;D**


	7. Rage

**Hello all! It's up, it's here, the new chapter! And right on time too, as apparently Sunday was this Story's one year anniversary! So happy Anniversary to the Art of Emotion! **

**Beta'd by: loveandallthat**

**This chapter has a lot of character development, and things get serious. **

**Enjoy! ^_^**

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><p>Itachi could tell that his birthday party was going to be interesting. It all started when the door bell rang... Which was interesting in itself because his friends knew that they could just walk in. Sasori was the only one who ever rang the doorbell, and there was no way Sasori had arrived an hour early. He was almost certain the silent boy rang the doorbell solely to put off being inside the house as much as possible. However, what <em>really <em>surprised Itachi was when the person on his doorstep happened to be a certain blonde. A blonde he had only ever seen pictures of because a certain little brother of his was _extremely _possessive and protective.

"Happy Birthday!" the other cheered before practically skipping past Itachi's frozen form and into the foyer. "Is Sasuke not down yet?" he asked as he hung his jacket up, completely comfortable with being in the Uchiha home. Before Itachi could answer the other's question however, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard pounding down the stairs.

"Naruto!" growled Sasuke, "I told you to call me when you got here and I'd let you in!"

The second thing that intrigued Itachi was the sight of his brother rushing down the steps. Itachi took in the image of his little brother who looked as though he had thrown on his outfit in ten seconds. The buttons on his shirt were buttoned wrong; he looked thoroughly rumpled and flustered too, and it wasn't even his fault. _But what would cause my little brother to be so flustered? _

"Oh come on Sasuke! I've told you a thousand times that your brother is not going to eat me; literally _or _figuratively. Besides, he'd have a hard time with it, as I am _much _more interested in being eaten by his little brother..." Naruto smirked lustfully as he began to fix the buttons on Sasuke's shirt for him.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the site of his little brother blushing madly from head to toe. Perhaps he was the cause of his brother's flustered state... indirectly of course.

"Little brother," began Itachi as soon as he felt composed enough, "How very rude of you not to introduce me to your... _friend." _He cast a mock-disapproving stare at his brother before turning elegantly towards Naruto. Taking Naruto's hand in his with a flourish, he presented it with a gentle kiss, causing a light blush to dust the blond's cheeks. "Please forgive my brother's rudeness. My name is Itachi, Sasuke's older brother. You must be the lovely boyfriend I have heard so little about. I've only ever seen pictures of you when I hack into my brother's computer." He said with no shame whatsoever.

Sasuke, in the middle of finishing fixing his shirt sputtered at that last comment, "-you! Itachi! How many times have I told you to stay away from my computer!" growled Sasuke.

"Come now little brother, it's my job to invade your privacy and blackmail you," chuckled Itachi, making Naruto giggle as well. "So, what are your plans for today?" Itachi inquired towards Naruto.

"Why, your birthday of course! Sasuke told me he needed moral support if he was going to be present at your party!" smiled Naruto.

This caused Itachi to pause in surprise before turning to look at his brother in shock. Said brother was pointedly avoiding eye contact.

Naruto, looking back and forth between the two began piecing things together. "Sasuke, you didn't tell him you were going to be here for the party?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and scoffed, "I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's not like I need an invitation, I live here too..."

Naruto sighed, "I swear..."

Itachi, who was still frozen in shock abruptly realized that his normal, emotionless mask was completely gone and quickly moved to fix that.

"Oh, silly little brother," Itachi stepped forward to ruffle his brother's hair in a way that he knew would have Sasuke blowing his top.

"Stop that!" Sasuke attempted to step away, but Itachi caught him in a brotherly headlock before he was out of reach.

"If you wanted to spend time with your big brother you only had to say so," Itachi cooed while calmly petting the top of his head as he spoke. "I knew you still admired me somewhere underneath that hateful façade you always hide behind."

"Let go! Dammit!" Growled Sasuke, "I knew this was a bad idea, let go!"

"No," Itachi denied, "I want to spend some quality time with my baby brother..." Itachi smoothly began dragging Sasuke towards the living room while Naruto followed at a distance, chuckling. What an interesting day indeed...

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><p>Deidara sat stiff as a board in the smooth leather passenger seat of Sasori's car. He was sure this car cost more than any amount he would make in his life and he would be damned if he so much as put a scuff mark on it...<p>

"Relax," scoffed Sasori, "Even if you somehow magically cause this car to combust, I can easily buy another one."

Well, excuse me _Danna, _But not all of us are rich bastards!" Deidara scowled at his newly acquired boyfriend; _god, that word sounds so weird in my mind... _boyfriend. "And you don't need to rub the fact that you have money in my face either!"

Sasori sighed before quietly speaking, "That was not my intention." Seeing the frown still on the blond's face, he reached over slowly and grasped a piece of hair by his face. Feeling the other boy stiffen, he simply twirled the end about his finger lightly; avoiding the other's face all together. "Relax" he breathed. Sensing the true reason behind the other's boy's agitation and stiffness he added, "There is no need to be so stiff. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, you only need to tell me and we can leave." Feeling the other relax slightly, he pulled his hand away.

Deidara breathed deeply, in an attempt to calm down.

"We're here." Sasori parked the car in the large driveway of the Uchiha Mansion before stepping out of the sleek, black car with ease.

The blond looked up briefly only to stiffen in shock at the sight of the huge house.

When it became apparent that the blond was not going to move from the car anytime soon, Sasori sighed before walking around and opening the other's door.

Deidara, pulled from his gaze at the opening of his door, hesitantly took the redhead's offered hand and allowed himself to be pulled from the car. He had never felt more out of place. He felt nervous just sitting in Sasori's car, but seeing the Uchiha's house made him want to start hyperventilating.

Sasori, though he didn't show it, was panicking as well, but for a whole other reason. The blond looked like he was about to faint! He had no idea what to do! How should handle the situation? He reached for the blond, worried he was about to keel over. When he could come to no other conclusion; he simply placed his hand at the small of Deidara's back and began leading him towards the front door. His thumb subconsciously drew small circles on his back.

Deidara began to relax without even realizing it and allowed himself to be guided toward the intimidating home looming before him. He felt like slapping himself when he realized he was fidgeting nervously as Sasori rang the doorbell. He forced himself to be still and tried to muster as much confidence as he could while they waited. Footsteps could be heard approaching the door. As the door opened Deidara felt the hand on his back stop its previous movement and upon glancing at Sasori's face, he could tell the other was feeling a mixture of confusion and surprise. Though, to anyone else his face would appear blank. _Since when have I been able to read him so well? _

****Upon seeing who opened the door he thought he might know why Sasori was so confused. There in the doorway was a blond boy who Deidara only recognized from a picture, and if what Sasuke said before was true... then Sasori would not recognize the other boy.

"You must be Naruto," Deidara smiled brightly, easily matching the mega-watt smile on the other blond's face.

"Yup!" Naruto grinned, "And since you're the only who has known my name so far, you must be Deidara!" He exclaimed. "I love my necklace by the way, thanks so much for helping Sasuke! He's hopeless with these things." He laughed.

"I was delighted," Deidara said sincerely.

Sasori looked back and forth between the two as he pieced together how they knew each other. Looking at the new boy's necklace he could easily see Deidara's handiwork in the piece of jewelry.

"Come on in!" Naruto stepped aside to let them in, "Everyone is in the living room. Sasuke is probably going to be really mad that I left him alone, but I was the only one who was willing to answer the door. I am sure Sasuke would have happily volunteered, but his brother simply refuses to let him leave his side..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his hand with a sheepish look.

Sasori simply raised an eyebrow at that comment before continuing on to lead the way into the living room. The two blonds followed behind him together.

Sasori had to admit he was curious. The normal birthday ritual had been disrupted. Deidara was the only blond abnormality he expected to see tonight. Upon walking into the living room, nothing seemed to be out of place except for the fact that Kisame's traditional seat was occupied by a miniature version of the devil himself, and his own usual seat was occupied by Kisame. Itachi and Zabuza were smirking, Pein was chuckling, and Kisame was out right laughing at Sasuke's expense. The mini-Uchiha was clearly trying to free himself from his brother's arm, which rested across his shoulders, without looking like he was trying. Though he was surprised that Itachi was practically cuddling the boy. Well, cuddling by Itachi's standard.

It looked as if Itachi just finished opening the presents everyone had gotten him. A gift card for a free tattoo, a traditional present from Kisame despite the fact that Itachi never used them; a replica antique sword, obviously from Pein as the two of them shared a fondness for weapons; and a book titled 'How to Rule the World', from Zabuza by default, rested on the table with a pile of wrapping paper underneath them.

"Finally, Sasori," Itachi chuckled, "If I didn't know any better I would think you didn't want to be here!"

"Hm," Sasori smirked, "Clearly, you don't know any better."

Deidara stared at Sasori in surprise. _Is he... happy?!_

Itachi put on a mock-hurt face, "Don't be like that Sasori!" Itachi's pouting quickly turned serious, "Now, enough with the formalities, give me my pocky."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sasori said, equally serious.

Itachi frowned, his stare becoming murderous, "Give. Me. My. Pocky." Itachi practically growled, making Sasuke freeze in both shock and a little fear considering he was the only one within reach of the murderous Itachi.

"Geez," scoffed Sasori, "You are the only person I know who loves Pocky that much..." Sasori pulled two packs of Pocky tied together by a black ribbon out of his pocket. "I didn't bother wrapping them." He tossed the pocky, his traditional present to Itachi, towards the appeased Uchiha. Itachi wasted no time digging in, even letting go of his brother unconsciously.

Sasuke quickly scooted as far away from his brother as the couch allowed causing a majority of the room to laugh loudly. Sasori simply smirked.

"I still can't believe you decided to finally join us, little-Uchiha!" roared Kisame, "I wonder what you bought for your brother, huh?"

"Don't be silly Kisame," chuckled Itachi between bites of his snack, "Him being here is my present of course, I feel honored that he has simply decided to grace me with his presence."

"You mean you haven't given him his gift yet?" Deidara blurted before he could stop himself. The only thing that surprised him was the fact that he and Naruto spoke at the same time.

The room went very quiet, everyone first looking at the two blonds before looking at Sasuke who was trying to bury himself alive in the couch cushions.

Both blonds looked at each other in surprise before sporting matching sheepish looks.

"Oh! What did you get him?" Kisame pulled the cushions away from a very red Sasuke before beginning to pat down his body for a hidden present.

Sasuke quickly switched from embarrassed to angry before he shoved the blue brute away.

"Shut up!" He growled. Glaring angrily and roughly pulled a horribly wrapped bundle and threw it roughly at his brother before storming from the room.

"Ow," wined Kisame, as he sat up, "that hurt. Little brat is strong..." he grumbled.

"Pft, your just a wuss," Deidara scoffed, while crossing his arms.

"Um," Naruto smiled weakly, "I guess I should go... see to Sasuke, um, you," he looked to Itachi, "should probably open you gift... um, yeah," he turned and followed after his angry boyfriend.

Deidara watched as Itachi looked at the present in his lap as if it was a bomb. Meanwhile everyone in the room was watching _Itachi _as if he was a bomb.

"Oh for the love of god!" Deidara grabbed a pillow off the nearest chair and threw it at Itachi. "Open the god damn thing! I didn't spend the last two nights trying to finish that thing for nothing!"

After Itachi was abruptly pulled from his stupor he glared at the blond before registering his words. "Wait, _you_ made my present?" Itachi looked toward Deidara suspiciously.

"Yeah," shrugged Deidara, "I called in a favor from Sasuke, and that was the only way I could get him to help me."

Itachi slowly focused on the small package in his lap. It really was poorly wrapped. Slowly peeling back the wrapping paper his eyes zeroed in on the black cord adorned by three, thick silver rings. It was a very simple piece, but Itachi was a very simple person. It was from his little brother. It was... perfect.

Standing up slowly, Itachi calmly walked out of the room, in the same direct his brother had gone. Everyone in the room watched silently.

"I think perhaps it's best if we postpone the party until tomorrow," suggested Pein amicably. "It appears Itachi needs to spend some bonding time with his little brother." Pein stood gracefully, and leaving no room for argument began to stride towards the front door.

Deidara moved slightly closer to Sasori, who had been standing next to him silently, to let Pein pass. Sasori automatically put his arm around the blond's waist, making everyone in the room stare in surprise. Sasori, not even realizing what he had done, stiffened when Deidara leaned into his chest before quickly relaxing.

Pein paused at the door to the living room to watch the new scene with interest.

"So does this mean we can leave now?" asked Deidara, looking up he gave Sasori his best puppy dog face.

Sasori smirked and replied, "Lead the way."

Deidara's face lit up and he quickly wrapped his arms around the redhead and leaned in to whisper in his ear shyly, "We could go on a date? Like a real one, not just you coercing your way into my apartment..." Deidara pulled back to glance at Sasori's face nervously. Even though Sasori said he liked him, and he said he returned his feelings, he still wasn't sure where they stood.

Ever since that confrontation nothing had really happened. Sasori had started showing up at his apartment at 6 am to drive him to school, but since he showed up so early Sasori ended up bringing breakfast too. Sasori had kissed him on the cheek, but only when he dropped him off at work and again when he dropped him off at his flat. They never held hands or kissed on the lips. They hadn't even bantered during art class, Sasori was quiet, and the few times Deidara tried to talk to him, Sasori either ignored him or gave him one word answers.

Sasori wasn't sure what to say. A date? What would that entail... He'd never been on one before...

Deidara's felt his heart drop. _Why's he not answering? _Noticing they were actually the center of attention only made him more embarrassed. Slowly he pulled away from the other boy, and tried to avoid eye contact with the three others in the room. He chanced a glance toward Sasori and noticed he wasn't even looking at him, but over his shoulder at the wall. It was like he was steadfastly ignoring him! _Maybe he doesn't like me...? But then why would he say he did... or maybe he thought he did, but realized he doesn't really like me... _

Deidara coughed awkwardly to clear his throat and holding back tears that he felt were on the verge of falling.

"Look, it's fine," he said weakly, "We don't have to... it was just a thought. I'll just... go wait at the car, okay? You can say goodbye to your friends."

He then walked as quickly as he could out of the house without running. As soon as he got to the car he realized he didn't have the keys. _Maybe I should just walk home? But that would be such as long walk... _Taking a deep breath he leaned against the car to calm himself down. He wouldn't cry... he couldn't cry... he didn't even know they were friends until three days ago! There's no way he had gotten attached that quickly. Just, no. Stealing himself, he waited for Sasori to come out so they could leave.

* * *

><p>Sasori, lost in thought about as to what a date with Deidara would entail, didn't even notice Deidara's disappointed expression. He only broke out of his deep thought when Deidara said something about it not mattering and walked away. He was so confused... first the blond asked for a date and now it doesn't matter? <em>Are dates not important? Is that not where the term 'dating' comes from? <em>

"Dude!" Kisame jumped up, "What the hell! You're supposed to be earning his trust, not breaking his heart! Why the hell didn't you agree to the date?"

"Yes, whatever were you thinking of so deeply," inquired Pein.

"When did I disagree to a date?" questioned Sasori, his brow furrowing with a frown before turning to Pein, "I was simply thinking as to how to go about a... date."

Pein appeared both amused and surprised, while Zabuza chuckled darkly.

"Oh my god, we're failing before it even begins!" cried Kisame in dismay.

"Relax, Kisame," chuckled Pein, "I am sure Sasori will fix things, after all, it's a miracle he's come this far." Pein wrapped his arm around Sasori's shoulder earning a malicious glare.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "Don't touch me!"

"Yes, yes," Pein replied complacently, "'Touch, it burns!' I know. I just wanted to make sure you caught up with Deidara before he decides his pride has been wounded enough and walks home." Pein steered him out into the foyer and towards the front door. "He seems that type of person," he added as an afterthought. "Now, why don't you take him to a movie? Or perhaps just dinner. After all, we wouldn't want _you _to feel overwhelmed on your first date." He laughed.

Sasori quickly shoved him back into the living room before storming out the door to his car.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stood hunched over the balcony railing, hands clenching the rail so hard his knuckles were turning white. He felt so frustrated, why did he let his brother and his friends get under his skin so much? He knew they were asses from the beginning... He sighed deeply.<p>

"Hey."

Sasuke startled slightly at the sound of Naruto's concerned voice. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him cautiously before he felt the other's chin rest on his shoulder.

"You know," Naruto started softly, "There's nothing to be embarrassed by. I personally think it's weirder that you haven't gotten him a present in 10 years than the fact that you got him one."

Sasuke sighed before turning around. Looking up into Naruto's concerned, blue eyes made him feel loved. He stepped back to lean back on the rail and to see Naruto more clearly. Looking away, he spoke, "It wasn't their teasing that pissed me off..." He began.

"Then what was it?" asked Naruto, slightly confused. He reached out to grasp Sasuke's arm in support.

"It was the look on his face when he... when he heard I got him a present. He looked like hell had frozen over," grumbled Sasuke. "Like he couldn't believe that I would get him a present!" Sasuke scoffed at that, getting slightly angrier. "I mean, it was his fault I stopped giving him presents! I used to make him things! And he always took them! And then, when I was seven, _seven_ years old, he was the one that told me to stop giving him such stupid, childish presents! So I did!" He ranted, "I simply told him happy birthday every year instead, and still he looked at me with this... this disappointed look! And that's why I cannot stand his birthday! Why I always leave and never stay, even when he or his friends jokingly invite me! Okay? That's... that's why I am angry..." Sasuke buried his face in his hands feeling exhausted all of a sudden, but at the same time like the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

Naruto didn't know what to say, there was nothing he really could say to make things better...

"Naruto"

Naruto jumped in surprise while Sasuke stiffened.

"Would you mind giving Sasuke and me a minute?"

Naruto turned around to see Itachi standing at the door to the balcony, his red eyes unreadable.

"Um," Naruto glanced back at Sasuke's frozen form, before turning back to the door and slowly walking towards it. "Sure, I'll just wait out in the hallway..." He passed Itachi as he walked into Sasuke's room, where the balcony was located, and then out into the hallway; closing the door behind him for added privacy.

Sasuke continued to stare at the ground in hopes that his brother would just disappear.

Itachi sighed deeply before moving to stand in front of his brother. "So this is why you hate me? Huh, little brother? Because of some stupid thing I did when I was nine?"

Sasuke stood straight abruptly, pushing Itachi back roughly. "Don't start, okay? You think you're better than me? Well, fuck you! Because I am happy the way I am! I have somebody who loves me, I have friends, and I don't need to be a condescending bastard to enjoy my life!" Sasuke tried to storm passed his brother, but was quickly caught in a strong hold. He tried to free himself, but Itachi only held on tighter.

"Sasuke!" growled Itachi, trying not to draw attention, "Don't run away! That's not what I meant!"

"Let go of me!" Sasuke yelled.

"No," Itachi responded calmly, or as calmly as he could. "I will be the first to admit it was my fault! I was nine, and I was angry!"

Sasuke stopped struggling, wondering where this was going. Both brothers were breathing deeply, but Itachi refused to let go, worried that Sasuke would still leave.

"I was nine, and I was angry that our parents died while picking up my birthday present!"

Sasuke stiffened in shock, he hadn't known that their parents were picking up his brother's birthday present when they... when the accident happened.

"And then I was disappointed when every year my favorite little brother didn't give me his cute little presents, and merely wished me a happy birthday..." Itachi continued more softly. "And I only ever invited you to my parties jokingly because I didn't want my pride to be hurt if you said no..." Itachi wasn't sure what he was feeling right now, his best guess would be anxious. He hadn't had a real conversation with his little brother in years. Not even when he was given guardianship the previous year. He always just assumed his brother was going through normal teenage bullshit when they quit talking. That's what their previous guardian had said as well.

When it didn't seem like Sasuke was going to speak, he continued, "I still have all the presents you've ever given me little brother. The pictures, the clay figurines, everything... even though I said that so long ago, they were precious to me. I feel really stupid that that day was the cause of the rift in our relationship..." Noticing that Sasuke seemed to have relaxed in his hold, he slowed maneuvered him so that they were facing each other. He looked into his brother's black eyes... the eyes that had yet to show signs of inheriting the genetic disease that ran in their family. He forced himself to look into those eyes, and not be embarrassed. Briefly touching the foreheads he whispered, "I love you Sasuke, you're my brother, and no matter what I say, I will always love you." Finally allowing himself to close his eyes, he added, "I only hope you can forgive me and forget what happened when we were younger." He released his hold on Sasuke and began to step away when he was surprised by a fierce hug. Surprised, he opened his eyes thinking he was imagining it. But no, his baby brother was really hugging him, and he quickly returned it.

"I'm glad I know now," whispered Sasuke, so quietly that Itachi almost didn't catch it.

"I am too little brother, I am too," he replied just as quietly.

When they finally pulled away, Sasuke noticed that Itachi was clutching his new necklace in his hand.

"So do you like it?" he asked.

Itachi smirked, "I love it, foolish little brother. Now I do believe we are missing the party."

Sasuke returned the smirk, "After you."

Together they began to head towards his bedroom door where they found Naruto waiting in the hallway like he said.

"So you guys worked things out?" he asked, and when then nodded he whooped. "Thank god, for a second there I thought Itachi was trying to throw you over the balcony and I was going to have to rescue you!" He chuckled, easily removing any remaining awkward tension. Both Uchihas gave a small smile.

"Man, I thought I'd like Deidara when you told me how you got my necklace Sasuke, but now I really like him!" Naruto exclaimed as they began heading toward the stairs.

"Intersting," mused Itachi, "Why might you say that?" He inquired.

"Well because we only stayed for your birthday because Sasuke owed him a favor, and Deidara was nervous about hanging out with you and your friends!" Naruto laughed, "It's actually a funny story."

"Oh really?" Itachi struggled to hide his surprise, how was it that the new kid at school turned out to be the reason for their reconciliation? "You must tell me all about it."

"Definitely," agreed Naruto.

"You two go on ahead, I'll be down in a minute," he said calmly as they passed the bathroom.

"Hurry up Itachi, or I might just have to eat all of your pocky..." Sasuke threatened jokingly.

Itachi only smirked at the inside joke, they both knew he hated sweets. Stepping into the bathroom, he used the mirror to quickly place his latest present about his neck. Smiling slightly, he headed back into the hall way to go downstairs, but just as he rounded the corner he was grabbed roughly and slammed against one of the walls. Before he could retaliate, he realized he was looking into the furious onyx eyes of his brother, with a glaring Naruto behind him.

"What the fuck did Kisame mean when he told Sasori: 'You're supposed to be earning his trust, not breaking his heart!' or 'Oh my god, we're failing before it even begins!'" Demanded Sasuke, "I know the rumors about what you guys have done. What the fuck are you five planning?"

As understanding washed over him, Itachi could only think of one word to summarize the situation: _Shit. _

* * *

><p><em><em>Upon approaching his car, Sasori could tell that Deidara was hiding behind a tough façade.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," Deidara climbed in the car as soon as it was unlocked and avoiding looking at Sasori as much as possible. Which was easy since he could just watch the scenery go by. About 20 minutes into the trip he realized something was up, mainly because the city began to turn into rolling hills, and it should have only been a 15 minute drive to his flat. "Um, where are we going?" he asked nervously. He noted that they had been going in the opposite direction of his flat.

"We're here," was the only thing the other said.

Once Deidara realized where they were he felt the heaviness in his chest ease just slightly. "Why are we here?"

Sasori looked at him, openly confused. "Did you not say you wanted to go on a date?"

At that answer Deidara smiled genuinely, all thoughts from before gone.

Because they had just pulled into a drive-in movie theatre.

* * *

><p>Itachi pondered what he should do, he just promised his little brother that he wouldn't hurt his new friend... and he <em>had <em>to keep his promise to his little brother. The only problem was as to how to fix the situation. If Sasori truly didn't like the blond, then to pull out of their plans would involve hurting him. Because Sasori wouldn't even want to be his friend, and that would probably hurt the boy. For once, he really hoped Sasori put a dent in their plans by liking the boy. Maybe if he helped things along...


End file.
